2023-08-10 06:49:54
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky
Selenski thanked the federal government and addressed Chancellor Olaf Scholz by his first name.
(Photo: IMAGO/ZUMA Wire)
Berlin, Kiev, Moscow According to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, the Russian capital Moscow again became the target of a drone attack in the early hours of the morning. Two unmanned aircraft were shot down by anti-aircraft defense around 4:00 a.m. local time (3:00 a.m. CEST), Sobyanin said on Telegram on Thursday morning.
Moscow had already reported a repelled drone attack on Wednesday morning. The metropolis of millions has recently become the target of enemy drone attacks. However, these are disproportionate to the mass attacks by Russia in its war of aggression against Ukraine. In the Russian city of Sergiyev Posad near Moscow, the clean-up work and the search for missing people continued after an explosion at a suspected armaments factory.
To better defend itself against Russian air raids, Germany has meanwhile strengthened Ukraine’s air defenses with two more launch pads for the Patriot weapon system. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked several times for the military aid on Wednesday. It was agreed with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), he wrote on Twitter in German: “The fulfillment of our agreement will save thousands of our people’s lives.” At the same time, the attacked Ukraine needs many more anti-aircraft weapons, he said in his evening video speech .
According to the Ukrainian general staff on Wednesday evening, there was heavy fighting on all sections of the front. During the night, air alerts were raised across Ukraine.
Selenski also addressed the new Patriot launch pads in his video address and even addressed the chancellor on first-name terms, with whom relations at the beginning of the war were still strained. “Thank you, Olaf, for that – it is necessary to protect our people from Russian terror,” he said.
Russia repeatedly bombards Ukraine with cruise missiles, missiles and drones. Their air defenses have improved significantly with international help since autumn 2022. The capital Kiev is now considered to be well protected. In other cities and at the front, repelling air raids is more difficult. At least three people were killed in rocket fire on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia, according to Zelenskyy.
Germany also sends machine guns and tracked vehicles
The US-built Patriot systems are particularly valuable for Ukraine because, according to Kiev, they have intercepted Russian hypersonic missiles several times. Germany also sent the newly developed Iris-T, which is not yet in use in its own country. The Gepard anti-aircraft vehicles have proven to be an effective weapon against Iranian-built Russian drones.
The new German deliveries also include ten more Bandvagn 206 multi-purpose tracked vehicles, six heavy-duty trailer trucks and around 6,000 rounds of smoke ammunition for artillery pieces with a caliber of 155 millimeters. This emerges from the official list of military aid to Ukraine. The federal government in Berlin updates the list weekly. According to this, Germany also provided 100 machine guns, thousands of shooting glasses, binoculars and mine clearance equipment this week.
Zelensky reported that he and his military leadership analyzed the ongoing Ukrainian counter-offensive. “What works well. What needs to be strengthened. What are our plans for the near future,” he said. In the evening, the general staff in Kiev listed heavy fighting on all front sectors in the east and south of the country.
This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the Ukraine war:
At Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian army is defending the recaptured positions against Russian attacks. At Kuyansk, the Russians tried to gain the initiative with massive use of artillery and air force, a Ukrainian military spokesman said. This military information could not be verified directly.
Eight people missing after explosion at Russian factory
According to official figures, 56 people were injured in the powerful explosion in the Russian city of Sergiyev Posad, about 70 kilometers north-east of Moscow. However, eight missing persons were not found by Wednesday evening, according to the Interfax agency, Mayor Dmitry Akulov. An injured worker at the affected factory died in hospital. Critical Russian media reported that there were allegedly several deaths.
The damage to the Zagorsk Optical-Mechanical Plant
The Russian authorities cited a violation of safety guidelines as the reason for the explosion.
(Photo: IMAGO/ITAR-TASS)
Photos and videos showed how a large column of smoke rose over the city on Wednesday morning. There was speculation on the Internet that the Zagorsk Optical-Mechanical Plant (SOMS) had become the target of a drone attack. The company manufactures optical equipment for military use.
According to Russian authorities, the explosion happened in a warehouse of the pyrotechnics manufacturer Piro-Ross. The company was founded in 1994 by four armaments companies. According to the address, the company is also on the SOMS site.
The city administration declared a disaster. She spoke of a violation of security measures as the cause. The version of a drone attack was rejected by official bodies. However, this information could not be independently verified.
More: All developments in the Ukraine war in our news blog
#Selenski #Germany #arms #deliveries