12:50 Cruise missile attack in Lviv region
According to Ukrainian sources, Russia has attacked the Lviv region with cruise missiles. Russian military planes took off from Belarus and fired cruise missiles at the Ukrainian region bordering Poland, the Ukrainian military said. Four Russian cruise missiles were intercepted by Ukrainian air defenses.
12:25 p.m .: Refugees from Ukraine bring more than 28,000 pets with them
Refugees from Ukraine brought more than 28,000 pets to Germany. The “Rheinische Post” reported, citing information from the German Animal Welfare Association. According to this, a good eight percent of the 340,000 Ukrainians registered in Germany to date have a dog or cat with them. In the case of accommodation in refugee accommodation, this sometimes causes problems.
11:50 a.m.: Entry ban for Prime Minister Johnson
The Russian Foreign Ministry has issued a travel ban for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and ten other British politicians are also no longer allowed to enter Russia, the ministry said in Moscow. More people would be added to the list shortly. The background to the measure was “the unprecedented unfriendly actions of the British government, in particular the imposition of sanctions once morest high-ranking Russian representatives”.
11:15 a.m .: Russia confirms shelling of tank factory near Kyiv
Russia has confirmed the renewed shelling of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Production facilities at a tank factory in Kyiv were destroyed, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in Moscow on Saturday. Previously, Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced that there had been explosions on the outskirts of the capital. Nothing was initially known regarding victims. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, a plant for the repair of armored vehicles and two depots with rockets and artillery were also destroyed in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv. 16 military objects were hit with high-precision weapons, including in the area around the port city of Odessa on the Black Sea and around the central Ukrainian city of Poltava. Dozens of other targets were destroyed with other weapon systems.
10.10 a.m .: Defense factory in Kyiv destroyed
According to its Defense Ministry, Russia has destroyed two armaments factories in Ukraine. These are an armored vehicle plant in Kyiv and a military repair facility in Mykolaiv.
9.45 a.m .: Ukraine expects an economic slump of up to 50 percent
The government of Ukraine expects gross domestic product (GDP) to fall by 30 to 50 percent this year. That’s what Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said on TV.
9.35 a.m .: Francis defends himself once morest allegations of Putin-friendliness
Pope Francis has used harsh words to defend himself once morest accusations that he is too pro-Putin in view of the Russian attack on Ukraine. In a letter to an Argentine journalist, he called allegations in the country’s media the result of “disinformation, slander, defamation and coprophilia”. The latter is the technical term for fetishism involving excrement.
The TV journalist Gustavo Sylvestre published the short, handwritten letter from the Pope, dated April 7, on his blog on Friday. The Pope, for his part, had replied to a letter from Sylvestre; however, the TV journalist did not publicize his own writing.
9:25 a.m .: Poland’s border guard has almost 2.8 million entries from Ukraine
Since the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine, 2.78 million people have fled to safety in neighboring Poland. This was announced by the Polish border guard on Twitter on Saturday. On Good Friday, 24,400 refugees came – a decrease of nine percent compared to the day before. 25,100 people crossed the border towards Ukraine on Friday. According to the authorities, the majority of these were Ukrainian citizens. They mostly travel to areas that the Ukrainian army has recaptured. There is no official information on how many of the war refugees stayed in Poland and how many traveled on to other EU countries. Before the Russian invasion on February 24, Ukraine had a population of more than 44 million. A border line of more than 500 kilometers runs between the neighboring countries of Poland and Ukraine.
9:10 a.m.: Nine escape corridors agreed for today
According to government information, nine escape corridors for evacuation have been agreed for today in Ukraine. Accordingly, civilians should be able to leave Mariupol in private cars, among other things, said Vice Prime Minister Iryna Wereshchuk. Five corridors are planned in the Luhansk region. According to local authorities, this is under heavy fire.
8.50 a.m .: Habeck calls for Easter marches once morest Putin’s war
Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) appealed to the participants in this year’s Easter marches to make it clear “that they are directed once morest Putin’s war”. If the idea of the Easter marches is peace, one must realize that there can and will only be peace if Russian President Vladimir Putin stops the war of aggression in Ukraine.
8.10 a.m .: Mercedes boss Källenius – gas embargo would weaken Germany
Mercedes-Benz boss Ola Källenius warns once morest a short-term stop of Russian energy supplies such as gas. “A strong economic performance is the basis for Germany to be able to react at all, regardless of the dimension,” Källenius told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. “We won’t help Ukraine by weakening ourselves. That’s exactly what would happen if we stopped energy immediately.” In the automotive industry, for example, paint shops cannot simply be switched off because they would become blocked. “There are examples like this in almost every company.”
7.35 a.m .: Minister grants residence permits for Russian refugees
According to Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP), Russian refugees should also receive fast and unbureaucratic protection in Germany. The federal government will save them lengthy asylum procedures, Buschmann told the “Welt am Sonntag”. Blanket approvals are intended for those who have worked for international companies, civil rights activists, journalists critical of Putin and cultural workers. The aim is for those affected to receive a work permit as quickly as possible.
7.10 a.m .: Delivery of heavy weapons apparently no entry into the war
In the debate regarding the delivery of tanks and other heavy weapons to Ukraine, Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann points out that, under international law, this would not mean entering the war once morest Russia. Ukraine is waging a permitted defensive war once morest Russia, the FDP politician told Welt am Sonntag. “So if they are exercising their legitimate right to self-defense, supporting them by supplying arms cannot lead to becoming a party to the war.” This is not just his personal view, but that of the federal government.
06:55: Explosions near Kyiv and Lviv
According to local media, explosions can be heard near Kyiv and Lviv. Airborne sirens sounded across much of Ukraine.
6:20 a.m .: Lindner once morest tax increases because of the Ukraine war
Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner clearly rejects demands for tax increases to finance the additional expenditure in the federal budget caused by the war. “Neither is a higher tax burden necessary, nor would it make economic sense,” writes Lindner in a guest article for the “Rheinische Post” newspaper, according to a preliminary report. He is financing the enormous additional tasks of the state with more debt.
6.05 a.m .: Russian military destroys cities in Donbass
According to Ukrainian sources, the Russian military has wreaked havoc in cities in the Donbass. Among other things, according to the head of the military administration, Strjuk, the city of Sievjerodonetsk is regarding 70 percent devastated. He said on Ukrainian television that around 20,000 of the approximately 130,000 pre-war residents were still there.
5.30 a.m .: Bayer boss warns of famine with millions of fatalities
The CEO of the pharmaceutical giant Bayer, Werner Baumann, warns of a dramatic famine that will kill millions. “In Ukraine, the granary of the world, there is a risk that at least part of the winter harvest will be lost because of the war,” he told the “Bild” newspaper, according to a preliminary report. “Even today, 280 million people are suffering acutely from hunger, and 40 million of them are at risk of dying.”
4:35 a.m.: 2,500 to 3,000 soldiers killed since the beginning of the war
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told CNN that between 2,500 and 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers have died in the war with Russia so far. Another 10,000 soldiers were injured.
03.45: Ukrainian Prime Minister travels to the IMF meeting
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and senior Ukrainian finance officials are traveling to Washington next week as part of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The information comes from insiders who say they are familiar with the plans.
2:45 a.m .: Russia blocks the website of French international radio RFI
The Russian authorities blocked the website of the French international broadcaster Radio France Internationale (RFI) on Friday. The Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor justified the blockade with unspecified violations of a law that prohibits the dissemination of false or extremist information. Journalists from the AFP news agency in Moscow were no longer able to access the RFI websites in English, French and Russian.