2023-08-05 09:29:38
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky
Zelenskiy praised the Secret Service for attacking the ship.
(Photo: IMAGO/ZUMA Wire)
Kiev, Kerch, Berlin A Russian tanker was damaged in an attack in the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, on Saturday night. According to media reports, the incident was a Ukrainian drone attack. According to Russian and Ukrainian media, there had previously been several explosions near the Crimean Bridge. The information could not be independently verified.
Ukraine has repeatedly attacked Russian naval ships and also the Crimean Bridge. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has previously warned that from July 21, 2023, all ships calling at Black Sea ports of the Russian Federation and Ukrainian ports temporarily occupied by Russia will be considered military targets by Ukraine.
The engine room of the ship is said to have been damaged in the alleged Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian tanker in the Kerch Strait. However, the crew of the ship is safe, the Russian state news agency TASS reported, citing the coordination center for sea rescue in Novorossiysk.
The bridge between the Moscow-held Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and mainland Russia was reportedly blacked out and closed to traffic. The information could not be independently verified.
A representative of the Russian occupation administration in Crimea spoke on Telegram of an “active dangerous situation”. Russian state media reported that a rescue team had moved towards a tanker. An alleged Russian radio message to ships in the Kerch Strait has been published on the Internet, calling on all ships to be more vigilant in connection with an attack by air and sea drones. In an alleged radio conversation from the freighter published online, one of the crew members explains that the engine room is said to have been flooded and the ship immobilized. This too could not be verified.
Expert sees chances for the success of the Ukrainian counter-offensive
Around two months after the start of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, military expert Christian Mölling from the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) sees chances for the operation to be successful. The offensive is progressing slowly but surely. “If the Ukrainians manage to get through the first Russian line of defense, the offensive will be successful,” Mölling told the Funke media group newspapers (Saturday).
From Mölling’s point of view, it would be sufficient if the Ukrainian troops advanced to the transverse supply lines by rail and road in the direction of Melitopol. Then they could shell the whole area up to the Sea of Azov with artillery and rocket artillery, says the expert. “The terrain would then no longer be defensible for the Russians.”
According to the DGAP expert, the Ukrainians do not need a breakthrough. It would be enough to position themselves so well that it would no longer be possible for the Russians to hold the south. “Then they have to withdraw.” The war could also be decided without a decisive battle. “It doesn’t have to end like in a Hollywood film,” says Mölling.
However, Ukraine needs more of all the Western weapon systems that have been delivered so far: minesweepers, ammunition and anti-aircraft defense. In addition, the country needs longer-range missiles. Mölling demanded that Germany should also deliver Taurus cruise missiles to Kiev. In his opinion, it is “nonsense” that this represents an escalation. The British and French have already delivered similar missiles. “There is no new quality there.” The federal government must also draw up a plan of what the Ukrainians will need in six months. “Germany has always come too late.”
The federal government is reluctant to deliver Taurus cruise missiles because the projectiles can also reach Russian territory.
Federal government delivers more military equipment to Ukraine
The federal government has meanwhile delivered further military equipment and weapons to Ukraine. According to an overview on the government website updated on Friday, Kiev received two more demining tanks, nine more border protection vehicles and three more reconnaissance drones compared to the previous week. In addition, Germany also supplied anti-mine plows for T-72 tanks, automated reconnaissance systems and mobile antenna mast complexes.
The list of planned military aid has also been updated. New plans now include the delivery of 18,000 anti-tank handguns, 40 additional Marder-type armored personnel carriers, six armored recovery vehicles, seven long-range minesweepers and five additional reconnaissance systems.
This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the Ukraine war:
After the attack by a Ukrainian sea drone on a Russian warship on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the SBU secret service for its work. In his evening video address, Zelenskyy said the SBU brought the war back to the Russian aggressor. “What you bring into the world, you ultimately stay seated on,” it said on his Telegram channel. Previously, the media published a video on the Internet that is said to show the successful attack of an SBU sea drone loaded with 450 kilograms of explosives on the enemy ship.
Drone attacks Russian ship
This image is from video from onboard the drone released on Friday.
(Photo: AP)
Subsequent images showed the Olenegorski gornjak (Olenegorsk miner) landing ship in an inclined position in the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. Even Russian war bloggers loyal to the Kremlin wrote about the damage to the ship.
What will be important on Saturday:
A summit meeting of high-ranking representatives from more than 30 countries on the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine begins in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. The meeting will take place in the coastal city of Jeddah until Sunday. Russia will not participate.
More: All developments in the Ukraine war in our news blog
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