Ukraine updates — German busted for sale of parts to Russia

Russia accused Ukrainian forces of shelling a village in the border region of Bryansk on Tuesday.

Several people were reportedly killed and five were injured in the village of Klimovo, some 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the border with Ukraine.

Regional governor Alexander Bogomas said the shelling damaged a school building and that children were among the victims.

The information could not be independently verified. Kyiv generally does not claim responsibility for alleged attacks on Russian soil.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday announced a new military aid package for Ukraine, as the country continues to fend off the Russian invasion.

The package, worth $250 million (€229 million), includes additional mine clearing equipment, missiles for air defense, ammunition for artillery and high bar systems, and over 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition, the secretary of state said in a statement.

"Russia started this war and could end it at any time by withdrawing its forces from Ukraine and stopping its brutal attacks."

"Until it does, the United States and our allies and partners will stand united with Ukraine, for as long as it takes," Blinken added.

Fierce fighting in key territories in Ukraine earlier this month has prompted mandatory evacuations amid fears of a second Russian takeover.

On Tuesday, DW spoke with Yuri Sak, an adviser to the Ukrainian defense minister, who said: "Trust me, Russia is getting no inch of Ukrainian land. From now on, the direction of the military activities will be only one way, which is driving the enemy out."

And Sak said there was cause for optimism.

"We know that the Russians are regrouping. They are sending reinforcements, hoping to make another Bakhmut. But look, Russians are running out of options and sometimes their actions seem so chaotic."

"We are seeing how Russians are very often surrendering," Sak added.

The Ukrainian fighter pilot Andriy Pilshchykov — more commonly known by his callsign "Juice" — was laid to rest in Kyiv on Tuesday.

Juice and two other pilots were killed on Friday when two L-39 combat training aircraft collided.

He was part of Ukraine's 40th tactical aviation brigade, also known as the "Ghosts of Kyiv," which protected the skies over the capital.

Air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said he "wasn't only a fighter pilot" but "a legend."

Juice commanded a reputation in the air force. He was praised by Ukrainian media as a driving force of reform and was an advocate for acquiring more advanced, US-made F-16 fighter jets. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy once called him "one of those who greatly helped our state."

"He wanted to fight bureaucracy, so that we could have American-style pilot training — no wasting time, just improving your skills," reserve Lieutenant Colonel Oleksandr Dovgal told the AFP news agency.

Dovgal said the ace pilot was inspired by his time training with the US Air Force.

"The (US soldiers) gave him the call sign Juice because he absolutely did not drink alcohol but only drank juice," Dovgal added. 

After the ceremony, Juice's mother asked Oleshchuk to promise to take her on the first F-16 flight in Ukraine to pay tribute to her late son. 
 
"I will go up instead of him," she said. 

The air force commander hugged her and replied: "Of course." 

The funeral of Yevgeny Prigozhin was held privately at a cemetery on the outskirts of St. Petersburg, according to his press service.

"Yevgeny Viktorovich [Prigozhin]'s farewell was held in a closed setting. Those wishing to say goodbye can visit the Porokhovskoye cemetery," the press service said in a statement.

Prigozhin, who was the head of the Wagner private paramilitary group, died in a plane crash on August 23.

Wagner logistics chief Valery Chekalov was also buried on Tuesday during a service at the Severnoye cemetery in St Petersburg.

Eight other people were killed in the plane crash in Russia's Tver region, including Wagner founder Dmitry Utkin.

Ukrainian authorities have announced the evacuation of children from five towns near the southern frontline.

"Due to the difficult security situation and enemy shelling, 54 children and 67 accompanying persons will be forcibly evacuated," the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine said.

The villages concerned are located in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.

Military spokesman Andriy Kovalyov said Ukrainian forces were edging further in the Zaporizhzhia region.

A Moscow court has rejected an appeal by former pro-Russian separatist commander Igor Girkin to be freed from pre-trial detention.

Girkin, a prominent Russian nationalist and former official for the self-declared "people's republic" in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, had criticized the Kremlin's military strategy.

The former commander had complained that authorities in the Russian-administered part of the Donetsk region had failed to provide support payments to families of men who had been conscripted to fight in Ukraine. "To have someone shot for such a thing would be too little," he wrote on social media. 

Girkin was also convicted by a Dutch court and handed a life sentence over the shooting down of a Malaysian passenger plane over eastern Ukraine in 2014, which killed 298 people.

In Russia, he faces up to five years in prison.

At the hearing in Moscow, Girkin said he had no plans to flee, claiming poor health and pointing to the Dutch verdict.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he is not planning to attend the funeral of Yevgeny Prigozhin, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Prigozhin, who headed the Wagner private paramilitary group, died in a plane crash in Russia's Tver region on August 23. The Wagner Group staged a mutiny against the Kremlin in late June, which was called off in a deal brokered by Belarus.

Following Prigozhin's death, Putin said that the Wagner leaders had "made a significant contribution" to fighting in Ukraine. He described Prigozhin as a "talented businessman" who nonetheless "made serious mistakes in life."

However, Russia's president described the Wagner revolt as "treason" and a "stab in the back" before it was called off.

The Kremlin has denouncedspeculation that Russian leadership orchestrated the crash that killed Prigozhin and other senior Wagner members as an "absolute lie."

The Vatican on Tuesday sought to calm the uproar that followed a Pope Francis video conference with Russian Catholic youths, insisting he never intended to encourage or condone modern-day Russian aggression in Ukraine. 

The pope had told youngsters in off-the-cuff remarks to "never forget your inheritance. You are the heirs of the great Russia. The great Russia of the saints, of the kings, of the great Russia of Peter the Great, or Catherine II." 

The comments prompted sharp criticism from Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Ukraine's Greek Catholic leader. He said the references to Russia's imperial leaders "refer to the worst example of Russian imperialism and extreme nationalism."

Shevchuk said some would interpret the comments as endorsing such nationalism and imperialism today, which he described as "the real cause of the war in Ukraine." 

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said on Tuesday that Pope Francis "certainly didn't want to exalt imperialistic logic or government personalities, who were cited to indicate certain historic periods of reference." 

Nevertheless, the Kremlin described the pope's comments as "very gratifying."

Pope Francis has generally sought to maintain a neutral stance on the conflict, frequently appealing to both sides to stop violence. 

Germany's federal prosecution service on Tuesday said that a German-Russian national was under arrest on suspicion of exporting components to Russia used in the production of military hardware. 

The announcement elevates an existing local case to the federal level. The prosecutor general said it had stepped in "because of the special importance of the case." 

The man, identified only as Waldemar W, is accused of exporting electronic components on 26 occasions between January 2020 and March 2023 to a Russian company involved in the production of military hardware including the Orlan-10 reconnaissance drone. 

An original arrest warrant was issued in Mainz in early March.

Western sanctions against Russia have put a strain on the country's weapons industry, which until recently relied on imports for many of the more complex technological components in Russian weaponry. 

German authorities have been trying to crack down on clandestine sales to Russia that have circumvented such restrictions. 

Earlier this month a businessman was arrested on suspicion of supplying Russian companies with machine tools used to make sniper rifles. 

Ukrainian children are struggling to progress in their education, the United Nations's children's agency (UNICEF) has warned.

"Inside Ukraine, attacks on schools have continued unabated, leaving children deeply distressed and without safe spaces to learn," said UNICEF's regional director for Europe and Central Asia, Regina De Dominicis.

"Not only has this left Ukraine's children struggling to progress in their education, but they are also struggling to retain what they learnt when their schools were fully functioning," she said.

Survey data showed that around half of teachers reported deterioration in Ukrainian students' skills in mathematics, Ukrainian language proficiency and foreign language proficiency, UNICEF said.

The agency added that one-third of children were learning fully in-person, a third online and a third both in-person and online.

The agency stressed that online learning was not a proper long-term replacement for in-person schooling.

UNICEF warned that two-thirds of preschool children were not attending preschool.

It also pointed to difficulties faced by Ukrainian refugee children, with more than half of them not enrolled in national education systems in their respective host countries. "Some refugee children may have completely abandoned their education," UNICEF said.

"In times of crisis or war, schools provide far more than a place of learning," said UNICEF.

"They can provide children who have already endured loss, displacement and violence with a sense of routine and safety, a chance to build friendships and get help from teachers."

Ukrainian authorities have ordered the evacuation of Kupiansk and surrounding areas. DW's Aya Ibrahim accompanied a Red Cross unit as they went door to door, trying to persuade civilians to leave.

 

The UK's Ministry of Defense said in its daily intelligence update that high salaries were providing a "strong incentive" for Russians to enlist to fight in Ukraine.

"Military service in the Russian Armed Forces has become increasingly lucrative since the invasion," the ministry said.

It said that on February 4 Russian lieutenants were earning 81,200 rubles ($850, €785) per month.

"By October 2022, [Russian President Vladimir Putin] announced that even mobilized private soldiers would receive 195,000 rubles per month," it said.

"Many junior ranks serving in Ukraine are now on over 200,000 rubles per month," the ministry said, adding that this was "over 2.7 times the Russian national average salary."

"It is highly likely that the salary and additional benefits are a strong incentive for personnel to join up, especially to those from the poorer areas of Russia," it said.

But the ministry stressed that "Russia is still unlikely to meet its targets for recruiting volunteers to the ranks."

The Russian Defense Ministry says two Ukrainian drones were downed over the Tula and Belgorod regions.

The southwestern Belgorod region borders Ukraine, while Tula is located immediately south of the Moscow region.

The ministry did not specify whether either incident had brought about damage or casualties.

News of drone attacks attributed to Ukraine have become a daily occurrence in recent weeks. Ukraine has denied being behind the strikes.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Kyiv is "maximizing" its ability to produce its own arms and materiel.

"We are maximizing production capacity. Ukraine can do it. Funding is available," he said. "Our defense industry will yield better results."

Zelenskyy made the statement in his nightly address after meeting with the officials from the Ministry of Strategic Industries, the state-owned defense conglomerate Ukroboronprom and domestic production facilities.

Ukraine's president also said that Kyiv would work to reinforce its border regions. "The issue of finances for this has been resolved," he said.

sdi/ab (AFP, dpa)