FRANKFURT (Reuters) – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said ahead of an EU-Ukraine summit next week that Ukraine had unconditional support from the bloc and that the country needed to prevail against Russian attacks to defend European values. “We stand by Ukraine’s side without any ifs and buts,” von der Leyen said in … Read more
WARSAW (Reuters) – The director of the Auschwitz Memorial on Friday compared the deaths of people in Ukraine to the suffering in World War Two during commemorations marking the 78th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi German death camp by Soviet troops. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum and Memorial preserves the Auschwitz death camp set up … Read more
By Tom Balmforth and Ivan Lyubysh-Kirdey KYIV (Reuters) – Russia pounded Ukraine with missiles and drones, killing at least 11 people, according to officials, after Western allies pledged tanks to Kyiv in its fight against Moscow’s invasion. Air raid alarms sounded across Ukraine on Thursday as people headed to work. In the capital Kyiv, crowds … Read more
LUDWIGSBURG, Germany (Reuters) – Germany’s top Nazi hunter, Thomas Will, is hopeful of securing further convictions over the Holocaust even as the remaining suspects, many now in their late 90s, die. Will told Reuters that he has handed over five cases to local prosecutors in Germany that he believes still have a chance of going … Read more
MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Thursday it saw the promised delivery of Western tanks to Ukraine as evidence of direct and growing U.S. and European involvement in the conflict. It was the first Kremlin reaction to announcements by the United States and Germany on Wednesday that they would arm Ukraine with dozens of … Read more
(Reuters) -Russia launched its latest air attack on Ukraine during rush hour on Thursday morning and officials told Ukrainians to take cover in shelters as air defence forces shot down incoming missiles. A Reuters reporter heard the sound of a missile flying overhead at a low altitude, about 30 kms from the capital Kyiv. Two … Read more
BERLIN (Reuters) – Russian activist hackers knocked several German websites offline on Wednesday in response to Berlin’s decision to send tanks to Ukraine, although Germany’s BSI cyber agency said the digital blitz had little tangible effect. Germany said on Wednesday it would supply its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, overcoming misgivings about sending heavy weaponry … Read more
BERLIN (Reuters) – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expects the alliance’s member states to raise their current spending target on defence of 2% of national output when they meet for a summit in Vilnius in July, he told German newspaper Die Welt. “I assume that there will be a new target for defence spending when … Read more
(Reuters) – The Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania made a joint call to Germany on Saturday to step up its leadership and send its main battle tanks to Ukraine, putting further pressure on Berlin to move faster on aiding Kyiv in its war against Russia. “We, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania Foreign Ministers, call … Read more
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s new defence minister Boris Pistorius plans to visit Ukraine soon, he told a German newspaper, as Berlin faces pressure to allow the shipment of German-made tanks to Ukraine. “What is certain is that I will travel to Ukraine quickly. Probably even within the next four weeks,” Pistorius told Bild am Sonntag … Read more