According to military expert Carlo Masala, the Ukraine war could last into next year. President Zelenskyy warns Europeans of a Russian energy war. Ukraine wants to supply nuclear power to Germany. All voices and developments on the Ukraine war here in the ticker.
8:21 a.m .: Despite the stop in natural gas deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the German gas storage facilities have reached a level of 85 percent earlier than expected. This emerges from data on the website of the European gas infrastructure companies on Saturday evening.
The federal government has a fixed plan for the filling levels of German gas storage facilities: 75 percent by September 1st, 85 percent by October 1st and 95 percent by November 1st. Filling the storage facility is considered a crucial element in ensuring that Germany can get through the winter without having to cut off gas.
Sunday, September 4, 8:08 a.m.: The BND has no indication that the Russian President could lose his power in the foreseeable future, said BND President Bruno Kahl of the newspaper “Welt”. And this despite the fact that, according to the BND, Putin actually assumed that the war would last only a few days and end with a regime change in Kyiv.
In the meantime, war has been raging in Ukraine for more than six months – with heavy losses on both sides. According to information from several Western secret services, up to 20,000 Russian soldiers have been killed and more than 50,000 injured. The Kremlin rarely publishes figures on fallen soldiers. The last official report was in March, at that time 1351 casualties were spoken of.
10:02 p.m .: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj has accused Russia of an energy war and called for more unity in Europe. “Russia these days is trying to increase the energy pressure on Europe even more – the pumping of gas through the Nord Stream has completely stopped,” Zelenskyy said in his daily video message on Saturday evening. “Russia wants to destroy the normal life of every European – in all countries of our continent.”
It is about weakening and intimidating the states in Europe. In addition to tanks and missiles, Russia also uses energy as a weapon. This winter Russia is preparing the “decisive blow” in the energy sector. On the other hand, only greater cohesion would help, said Selenskyj. The Europeans should coordinate their countermeasures better and give each other more help. In addition, the pressure on Russia must be increased in order to limit the country’s oil and gas revenues.
4:57 p.m .: In view of the debate about rising consumer prices in Europe, Ukrainian First Lady Olena Selenska recalled the human costs of the war in her country. “While you start counting the pennies in your bank account or in your pocket, let’s do the same and count our victims,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s wife said in a BBC interview scheduled to air in full on Sunday .
The 44-year-old said that the stories of the people fleeing the war or even losing their lives and their faces should be known all over the world. “Not the number of bombs dropped or the sums spent, but human stories – and there are thousands of them.”
About her husband’s journey from actor to war president, Selenska said she was offended when people wondered about it. “He’s the same man I’ve always known.” Volodymyr Zelenskyj and his wife have known each other since they were students, have been married since 2003 and have two children together.
3:52 p.m .: The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine has been going on for more than six months. And according to military expert Carlo Masala, the fighting won’t end anytime soon. “The war won’t be over in six months,” the political scientist told Stern magazine. According to Masala, it will remain a war of position and attrition. What speak for a quick end of the war? “My optimistic answer: nothing.”
Russia would show no sign of backing down. Likewise, peace negotiations, which are also face-saving for Ukraine, are currently not in sight. In addition, according to Masala, neither party has the clout to inflict massive losses on the opponent.
With attacks on ammunition depots or the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia, the Ukrainians would “trigger chaos among the Russian troops”, but this would not be enough to turn the war in their favor, according to Masala. In October, he expects less fighting, the terrain will then be “hardly usable for either side because of rain and mud.” His prognosis: “The war will drag on into next year.”
2:15 p.m .: According to Economics Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, the EU is well prepared for a possible complete Russian gas supply stop. “We are well prepared to withstand Russia’s extreme use of gas as a weapon,” said the EU commissioner on the sidelines of an economic forum in the Italian town of Cernobbio on Lake Como. He referred to the increased storage of natural gas in the European Union and measures to save energy.
1:24 p.m .: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offers his country as a mediator in the dispute over the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. This was announced by the presidential office in Ankara after Erdogan had a telephone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The heads of state have also emphasized their determination that work on the nuclear power plant planned in Akkuya, Turkey, should continue.
According to an administrative representative recognized by Russia in the Zaporizhia region, Ukrainian units had fired on the nuclear power plant of the same name several times on Saturday night. An important power line was interrupted as a result, Vladimir Rogov explains. That’s why emergency power generators were activated. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said on his return from Zaporizhia on Friday evening that the plant of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant had been damaged several times by the fighting.
1:24 p.m .: The Federal Network Agency has expressed doubts about the Russian justification for not resuming gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. “According to the assessment of the Federal Network Agency, the defects alleged by the Russian side are technically no reason for the cessation of operations,” writes the authority in its gas supply management report published on Saturday.
On Friday evening, the state-owned company Gazprom surprisingly announced that the gas flow through Nord Stream 1 would remain stopped until further notice – and would not resume after the three-day maintenance work had been completed, as planned. The reason for the stop is an oil leak in the Portovaya compressor station, Gazprom said. Until this is stopped, no more gas can flow.
Doubts about this representation came on Friday evening from Siemens Energy, manufacturer of the affected turbines. Such a finding does not constitute a technical reason for the cessation of operations, according to a company statement. Such leaks do not normally affect the operation of a turbine and can be sealed on site – this is a routine part of maintenance work. Even in the past, the occurrence of this type of leak has not brought operations to a standstill.
Overall, the situation with the gas supply is tense, according to the report by the Federal Network Agency. A further deterioration of the situation cannot be ruled out. “But the gas supply in Germany is stable at the moment. Security of supply in Germany is currently guaranteed.”
Saturday, September 3, 9:12 a.m.: Ukraine wants to support Germany with the delivery of nuclear power on its way out of dependence on Russian energy supplies. “Currently, Ukraine exports its electricity to Moldova, Romania, Slovakia and Poland. But we are quite ready to expand our exports to Germany,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal told the German Press Agency. “We have enough electricity in Ukraine thanks to our nuclear power plants. I will address this during my visit to Berlin and then also to Brussels.”
Schmyhal is expected in Berlin on Saturday and will be received by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in the Chancellery on Sunday. Parallel to the Russian invasion at the end of February, the Ukraine, together with the neighboring country of Moldova, disconnected from the former Soviet power grid. Synchronization with the European network took place in mid-March.
Since then, the country has been exporting between 400 and 700 megawatts of electricity to the European Union and Moldova every day. Schmyhal now wants to increase the export quotas for the EU many times over. “That would be very good for both sides. The EU would get more energy and we would get the foreign exchange that we urgently need,” said the Prime Minister.
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