Ukraine war in the live ticker: +++ 06:29 Japan describes incident with Russian fighter jets +++

13.09.2024

Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 06:29 Japan describes incident with Russian fighter jets +++

The Japanese army sent out fighter jets on Thursday after two Russian aircraft had circled the island state. The Russian jets did not enter Japanese airspace, the Defense Ministry said. From morning to afternoon, the Tu-142 aircraft were flown from the sea towards the southern region of Okinawa, it said. In response, “we mobilized fighter jets from the Defense Air Force at an emergency base,” the ministry said. The Russian jets ended their overflight in the north. According to the ministry, they also crossed the Kuril Islands – an area that is the subject of a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia. Earlier in the week, Russian and Chinese warships began joint exercises in the Sea of ​​Japan. The exercises are part of a large-scale naval maneuver. Russian military aircraft last circled over Japan in 2019.

+++ 06:07 Moscow: USA pursues policy of containment against Russia and China +++
Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said at a security conference in China that the United States is pursuing a policy of containment towards Russia and China, according to the Russian news agency Tass. Fomin told the agency that Moscow and Beijing support the creation of a fair, multipolar world order based on equality and mutual respect, while the West is preparing for wars in Asia by establishing new security blocs in the region.

+++ 05:27 Ukraine: Civilian freighter hit by anti-ship missile +++
The Ukrainian Navy reported new details about a suspected Russian air attack on a civilian freighter in the Black Sea. According to the report, a Tu-22 bomber probably fired a Ch-22 anti-ship missile at the ship. The cargo ship flying the flag of the Caribbean state of St. Kitts and Nevis was already outside of the state's territorial waters. It was on its way to Egypt from the southern Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk with a load of wheat. According to a BBC report, the freighter was in Romania's exclusive economic zone. According to the report, no Ch-22 missile was used, but rather a Ch-31 missile used to combat radar, which has a much lower explosive power than the Ch-22 cruise missiles developed to combat aircraft carriers.

+++ 03:19 Incident at demarcation line: Moldovan soldier dead +++
A Moldovan soldier has died under unclear circumstances while serving on the demarcation line with the separatist region of Transnistria. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Moldova, the soldier was fatally wounded by a shot from his own weapon while carrying out his duties at his post. Police and forensic experts are now investigating the incident, they said. Soldiers from Moldova and separatist Transnistria are stationed on the dividing line between the two sides together with Russian troops who have been deployed since a conflict in 1992 following the collapse of Soviet rule. Moldova has pledged to reintegrate Transnistria into its territory. Incidents on the dividing line are extremely rare.

+++ 02:18 British Prime Minister: “We are not looking for a conflict with Russia” +++
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer rejects Russian President Putin's claim that releasing long-range Western weapons for attacks deep inside Russian territory would be tantamount to NATO's involvement in the war. “Ukraine has a right to self-defence,” said Starmer. Britain fully supports this right and offers training opportunities in this context. “But we are not looking for conflict with Russia – that is not our intention in the slightest,” stressed the British Prime Minister. Read more about this here.

+++ 01:09 Former US ambassador to Kyiv: Harris would probably support Ukraine “more aggressively” +++
Former US ambassador to Ukraine William B. Taylor believes that if she wins the election, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris will support Ukraine “more aggressively” than the current incumbent Biden. She has already shown this on some issues, Taylor said at an event at the American University of Kyiv. Biden has been rather slow on some decisions, such as the one about HIMARS, Abrams and F-16 fighter jets. He is also currently cautious about the decision to allow Ukraine to launch attacks deep into Russia. He expects a “more aggressive” approach from Harris – also because she will probably bring a foreign policy team to the White House.

+++ 00:27 Selenskyj thanks Estonia for military aid +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj received Estonian President Alar Karis in Kiev, whom he thanked for the military aid. The Baltic EU and NATO member has agreed to provide 0.25 percent of its gross domestic product to Ukraine for its defense needs. The talks also covered reconstruction and the country's EU course. Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silina also promised further help at a meeting with Zelenskyj.

+++ 23:19 BND does not have to give journalist any information about its assessment of Ukraine +++
The Federal Intelligence Service (BND) is not required to tell a journalist whether he described a military victory for Ukraine as difficult or impossible in background discussions. The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig has ruled that which media outlets participate in background discussions with the press may not be disclosed for the time being either. The journalist's application for an interim injunction is largely rejected. However, the BND must provide information on how many so-called confidential individual background discussions on the military situation in Ukraine there were this year. The urgent application was made by the editor of a daily newspaper. The court was prompted by a newspaper article from May. It reported that a CDU politician had said that the BND was spreading a deliberately negative assessment of the military situation in Ukraine in order to influence public opinion.

+++ 22:06 Traffic light politicians for use of long-range weapons against Russia +++
Politicians from the traffic light coalition are in favor of allowing Kiev to use long-range weapons against targets in Russia. It is right and also in accordance with international law to “finally attack military targets in Russia with long-range Western missiles,” says SPD foreign policy expert Michael Roth T-Online. Roth names “military airfields, command centers or launch bases” as possible targets in Russia for the long-range weapons. The “perfidious attacks on civilian Ukrainian targets” are carried out from these bases – this is also where they can be stopped most effectively. The head of the Defense Committee, Marcus Faber of the FDP, says that the approval to “target Russian military airports with long-range weapons such as ATACMS and Storm Shadow is long overdue.” Green Party politician Anton Hofreiter emphasizes: “Russia terrorizes the foreign civilian population every day with missile attacks on hospitals, homes and energy supplies.” In order to effectively protect the civilian population, the army must be allowed to hit military bases on Russian territory with long-range weapons.

+++ 21:35 Vance comments on Trump's ideas on Ukraine +++
According to Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, Donald Trump's plan to end the Russian war could include, among other things, the creation of a special demilitarized zone between Ukraine and Russia. As Vance explains in an interview with television producer Shawn Ryan, Trump could bring Russians, Ukrainians and Europeans to the negotiating table to “figure out what a peaceful solution might look like.” “I think he could come to a deal very quickly,” Vance said. Trump is known for his open sympathy for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his repeated criticism of US aid to Ukraine. The former president also says that if elected, he would end the war within 24 hours. However, he did not reveal some of his plans.

+++ 21:03 “We are Russians. God is with us” – Fascist march in St. Petersburg +++
They cannot appeal to a higher authority, but this authority cannot contradict them either: “We are Russians. God is with us,” shout numerous Russian nationalists and fascists marching through St. Petersburg. And they repeatedly chant: “Forward, Russians!” The reason for their march is the anniversary of the transfer of the relics of Alexander Nevsky, who is celebrated as a national hero and saint of the Orthodox Church.

+++ 20:28 Kremlin propagandist: “The ideal barrier is the Atlantic” +++
According to popular Russian TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov, Russia should not just conquer Ukraine. “I think that the ideal barrier is the Atlantic. A natural barrier,” said the Kremlin propagandist. The perfect place for our troops – Berlin, Lisbon, Madrid. And how beautiful they looked in Paris.” When a panelist pointed out that there are not so many Russians, he said: “The Belarusian brothers are with us.” Otherwise, they could also turn to China.