war | Russian politician: drones shot down near Putin residence

Day 461 since the beginning of the war: Zelenskyj makes a declaration of war on Moscow. Two people died in attacks on Kiev on Sunday. All information in the news blog.

12.05 p.m.: According to Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir, the EU Commission must make the expansion of trade routes between Ukraine and the EU a top priority. “The central point is that the Black Sea Agreement must finally put an end to Ukraine’s susceptibility to blackmail,” said the Green politician. In the middle of the month, shortly before the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea expired, Russia and Ukraine agreed on an extension.

“As long as Putin and someone like him are in power in Moscow, the Black Sea is not safe,” Özdemir said. It is now important that someone takes the lead on the issue of alternative export routes. “I expect the EU Commission to take on this issue and make it a top priority,” Özdemir demanded.

11:22 a.m.: According to a senior Russian politician, three drones were shot down over parts of Moscow’s posh Rublevka suburb. One of the affected residential areas is only ten minutes away from Putin’s residence Nowo-Ogaryovo, said the deputy of the ruling party United Russia, Alexander Chinshtein.

Rublevka is an amalgamation of exclusive and well-secured residential areas in western Moscow. Ex-President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and many wealthy businessmen are also said to have properties there.

10.40 a.m.: The Ukrainian government has denied allegations that it is directly responsible for the recent drone strikes on Moscow. Of course he was happy about the attacks, says Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak in a YouTube broadcast. “But of course we have nothing to do with it directly.” Russia’s defense ministry has blamed Kyiv for the attacks.

10:28 am: The Danish government intends to invest significantly more money in defense over the next ten years. It is proposed to invest a total of around 143 billion Danish kroner (19.2 billion euros) in defense and security in the years 2024 to 2033, said Acting Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen. It is a “historic” expansion of the defense apparatus. War is raging in Europe, peace can no longer be taken for granted.

The government of Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen now wants to achieve the NATO target that two percent of gross domestic product (GDP) should flow into defense by 2030 at the latest. As can be seen from the government proposal, defense spending in the country of 5.9 million according to the NATO definition is currently around 36 billion crowns a year – by 2030 they are expected to increase to 56 billion crowns a year.

9.30 a.m.: The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, has ruled out any territorial concessions from his country to Russia. “Russia has to leave all the occupied territories,” he told RTL and ntv on Tuesday. Peace talks must also deal with Russian reparations payments to Ukraine.

On the Russian-occupied and annexed Crimea, Makeiev said: “Crimea is part of Ukraine, as are Luhansk and Donetsk and the newly occupied territories of Russia. We must liberate our people from this occupation.” The ambassador also made it clear: “We are not giving a single piece of land to the Russians.”

8.44 a.m.: Russia has accused Ukraine of a “terrorist attack” on the capital Moscow. “Eight drones were used in the attack,” Russia’s defense ministry said on Tuesday. “All enemy drones have been shot down.”

It is currently unclear who is responsible for the drone attack (see entry from 6.44 a.m.). Observers like the analyst Olga Lautman from the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) believe it is possible that the Russian side is responsible for it.