Today, the International Criminal Court has taken another step: arrest warrants for the commanders of Russian murderers – Long-Range Aviation and Black Sea Fleet – address by the President of Ukraine

5 March 2024 – 19:18

I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians!

Today, the International Criminal Court has taken another step – arrest warrants have been issued for two more representatives of the Russian leadership. This time – military leadership. Commanders of the Russian murderers – Long-Range Aviation and Black Sea Fleet of the terrorist state. In particular, they have carried out and are carrying out a terrorist campaign against our state and people targeting our energy sector and civilian infrastructure. These are obvious crimes – Russia’s war crimes and crimes against humanity. And this is exactly what the International Criminal Court is addressing in a principled fashion.

Once international justice starts working, it cannot be stopped. Justice for Ukraine, for Ukrainians, and for the international community as a whole will definitely be restored. I am thankful to Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan, to the entire team of the International Criminal Court and our Ukrainian team working to restore justice – all the officials who are investigating Russian war crimes, all the experts who are helping, the Prosecutor General and his Office, and all the law enforcement officers of Ukraine. Russian murderers will be held accountable – there is no doubt about it.

Today I want to thank all our warriors, all the units that are restoring security and control in the Ukrainian skies and in our Black Sea. Ukraine has proved what we are capable of, what our strength is capable of. This is evidenced by the number of downed Russian military aircraft and the capabilities of our guys against the Russian fleet. There are no longer any safe harbors for Russian terrorists in the Black Sea and there will never be any more. And there will be no safe space in the sky for them, provided our Ukrainian strength is sufficient. This applies to both supplies from partners and our domestic production.

Today I held several meetings on this. There was a report from the Ministry of Strategic Industries on our defense production, as well as relevant communication with partners. We are implementing the recently reached agreements on supplies and joint projects in the shortest possible time. I am grateful to everyone in the world who helps in a principled, timely and uninterrupted manner.

I also held a meeting with the international bloc of the government and the Office on key issues in certain areas. We are planning our actions for this month, for this spring, to provide Ukraine with the necessary strength and capabilities. Ukraine has to achieve its goals, and all of us in the world have to restore the full force of international law. And when that happens, no terrorist state like Russia will be able to dictate anything either to its neighbors or to the whole world.

I thank everyone who helps Ukraine! I thank everyone who fights and works for our country and people.

Glory to Ukraine!

3 hours ago:

Air raid alert is in Kyiv region, as well as in many other Ukraine regions. It looks like another Russian drone attack. pic.twitter.com/VJUDIF19YN

— Kyrylo Loukerenko (@K_Loukerenko) March 5, 2024

⚡️Explosions reported in Odesa.

Several explosions were heard in Ukraine's southern city of Odesa at around 11 p.m. local time on March 5, Suspilne news outlet reported.

The Air Force earlier warned about Russian attack drones flying toward the city.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 5, 2024

Germany:

“Scholz has hunkered down in his refusal to send the missiles. He doesn’t seem to understand that by doing that he’s become the best piece on Putin’s chessboard.” https://t.co/jWll2FURQX

— max seddon (@maxseddon) March 5, 2024

The Financial Times has the details of Olaf’s cowardice:

Olaf Scholz’s message last week was clear: Berlin would not deliver Taurus cruise missiles to Kyiv because German soldiers would have to be sent to Ukraine to programme them. And that meant Germany would be dragged into war with Russia.

The German chancellor’s argument has now been blown apart — by his own military. A conversation between German air force officers that was intercepted and leaked by Russian media late last week revealed Ukrainian soldiers could operate the Taurus missiles without German “boots on the ground”, as long as they were adequately trained.

“The leak is official confirmation that the chancellor wasn’t telling the truth,” said Norbert Röttgen, an MP for the opposition Christian Democrats and member of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee. “It massively damages his credibility.”

Scholz’s allies have rallied to his defence. Rolf Mützenich, head of the chancellor’s Social Democrat (SPD) parliamentary group, told ARD TV on Sunday that the business of sending Tauruses to Ukraine was always “a political and legal grey zone which I myself wouldn’t want to set foot in”. “For that reason, [Scholz’s] decision is politically and legally reasonable,” he said.

Even before the leak, doubts were being expressed in western capitals about Scholz’s approach. Officials in London and Paris expressed dismay last week after he revealed publicly that British and French troops were on the ground in Ukraine helping to operate Storm Shadow and Scalp missiles — a situation he would not permit with the Tauruses.

But the eavesdropping affair has caused much more damage, triggering massive concern about the safety of German government communications as wars rage in Europe and the Middle East. Germany was “caught with its pants down, again”, lamented the mass circulation Bild Zeitung on Monday. “It’s as if [Russia’s leader Vladimir] Putin dropped a cluster bomb over Berlin,” said the Frankfurter Allgemeine.

It was in May 2023 that the Ukrainian authorities first asked for Taurus cruise missiles, one of the most modern weapons systems in the Bundeswehr’s arsenal. With a range of up to 500km they can be used against “high-value targets” such as bunkers or command posts and can penetrate several walls of reinforced concrete.

But in October, Scholz turned down the Ukrainian request. For many this was typical: he had long refused to supply Kyiv with German Leopard tanks, fearing Russian retaliation. But in January last year he finally bowed to intense domestic and international pressure and reversed course.

For months Scholz declined to explain his position on Tauruses. But last week he finally broke his silence, saying German soldiers would have to be stationed in Ukraine to programme the missiles. Berlin would then become directly involved in the war, an outcome he has consistently sought to avoid.

“German soldiers must not be connected at any point with the targets that this system reaches,” he said.

Fellow SPD politicians say Scholz’s caution has huge support among German voters, and the Russian leak has not changed that.

“People here like the way he cautiously weighs up the pros and cons of supplying different weapons systems,” said Nils Schmid, the SPD’s foreign policy spokesperson. “Like Scholz, they don’t want Germany to become a party to this war.”

Schmid added Germans also agreed with the chancellor about the risks of supplying Ukraine with “so impactful a weapon”. “You just don’t know how they would deploy it in an emergency situation,” he said.

But Scholz’s position on Taurus has raised hackles inside his own governing coalition. Worried about Ukraine’s recent setbacks on the battlefield and the US Congress’ failure to approve more military aid for Kyiv, liberal and Green MPs have urged a rethink on a missile that has the potential to significantly boost Ukraine’s military capabilities.

Late last month the three parties in Scholz’s coalition passed a resolution requesting the delivery of “long-range weapons systems” to Kyiv that could strike “far in the rear of the Russian aggressor”. Taurus was not named, but it was clearly implied.

It was also the main subject of the intercepted Luftwaffe call. The officers involved, who included Luftwaffe chief Ingo Gerhartz, were heard to say the missiles could be used by Ukraine to attack the bridge linking mainland Russia to the Crimean peninsula, among other targets. The men also said Ukrainian troops could be trained in Germany to use the missiles. But they stressed that Scholz’s government had still not given the green light for the missiles to be delivered to Kyiv.

Some in Scholz’s SPD think that could one day change. “The leak doesn’t reduce Scholz’s room for manoeuvre — he can still come to a different decision on Tauruses in the future,” Schmid said.

But others said Russia’s aim was to make sure Scholz would never be able to execute a U-turn on the missiles. “Russia has succeeded in creating the perfect political dilemma in Germany,” said Christian Mölling, a defence analyst with the German Council on Foreign Relations. “It will now be all the more difficult for Scholz to re-evaluate the situation and change his mind on the Tauruses after all.”

Johann Wadephul, the Christian Democrats’ spokesperson on foreign and defence affairs, said Putin’s aim was to “entangle Scholz in a web of hints and contorted explanations” to such an extent that it would be impossible for him to opt to supply the Tauruses in the future.

“Scholz has hunkered down in his refusal to send the missiles,” Wadephul said. “He doesn’t seem to understand that by doing that he’s become the best piece on Putin’s chessboard.”

More at the link.

France via Prague:

Emmanuel Macron being brutally honest in Prague today:

"Who launched the war in Ukraine? Vladimir Putin. Who threatens us, whatever we do whatever we say, with nuclear weapons? President Putin.
If every day we explain what our limits are in the face of someone who has none and… pic.twitter.com/vP5NalKQ8d

— Julien Hoez (@JulienHoez) March 5, 2024

Emmanuel Macron being brutally honest in Prague today:

“Who launched the war in Ukraine? Vladimir Putin. Who threatens us, whatever we do whatever we say, with nuclear weapons? President Putin.
If every day we explain what our limits are in the face of someone who has none and launched this war, I can already tell you that the spirit of defeat is there lurking. Not amongst us.”

The EU’s new defense industrial strategy is out!

https://twitter.com/shashj/status/1765087233252761858

Here’s the summary from the European Commission:

With Russia’s unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine, high-intensity conflict has returned to our continent.  This is why a new, first-ever European Defence Industrial Strategy has been put forward. It sets a clear, long-term vision to achieve defence industrial readiness in the European Union. We need to have the defence systems and equipment ready when they are needed and in the quantities that are needed.

The Strategy sets out several new actions to achieve this:

• encouraging EU countries to invest more, better, together and European. This will be promoted thanks to new programmes to buy and work more easily together at the European level.
• making European defence industry stronger, more responsive and more innovative. Steps will also be taken to support research, boost investment and work on issues along supply chains. As part of this, an Office for Defence Innovation will open in Kyiv.
• funding to readythe defence industry, through a new European Defence Industry Programme worth €1.5 billion and discussing defence needs for the next long-term EU budget
• teaming up with partners across the globe – Ukraine will for instance be able to take part in EU defence industry programmes.

The Strategy also sets out a number of targets. By 2030, EU countries should:

• buy at least 40% of the defence equipment by working together
• spend at least half of their defence procurement budget on products made in Europe
• trade at least 35% of defence goods between EU countries instead of with other countries

This will help make the EU safer and more resilient. It will not only benefit all of us in the EU, but also key allies including NATO and Ukraine.

Here’s the link to the fact sheet.

And here’s the link to the strategy itself.

This HIMARS had a damn good run!

A year and a half in active use in war before the first confirmed loss… This had to happen at some point, of course. https://t.co/14V8Uz8unS

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) March 5, 2024

A bit more on the naval drone strike:

It is interesting that in the last three known cases of naval kamikaze drone attacks on the Russian fleet, in each case the drones tried to attack the same place on the ship’s hull that had previously been damaged by the previous drone detonation. Which is possibly one of the… https://t.co/iBE7S1l4PK pic.twitter.com/XQ7gJWpPeK

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) March 5, 2024

It is interesting that in the last three known cases of naval kamikaze drone attacks on the Russian fleet, in each case the drones tried to attack the same place on the ship’s hull that had previously been damaged by the previous drone detonation. Which is possibly one of the tactics for naval drone strikes against ships.

 

Here's your video.
My only question is: who is out there making decisions on music tracks? pic.twitter.com/DCbwkKdA1W

— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) March 5, 2024

That’s a good question.

Donetsk Oblast:

10 years ago today before the Russians occupied it.

March 5, 2014 – Donetsk, Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/yZWheXMmrk

— Pierre M. (@Mrchk0) March 5, 2024

Donetsk oblast has the best regional flag in europe and im not open to discussion pic.twitter.com/4TLP6svrRi

— Desiderius | Casus Belli 🔱 (@doctoradmiral) March 5, 2024

The Avdiivka front.

Support from the sky.
The work of 🇺🇦 Army Aviation helicopters in the Avdiivka direction.

📹: 47th Mechanized Brigade pic.twitter.com/Hm6MtMsdvH

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) March 5, 2024

Footage of the effective use of FPV drones by the 3rd Assault Brigade's UAV Battalion near Avdiivka: enemy attack repelled, resulting in 15 enemy deaths. The enemy platoon was completely destroyed from a distance. Annotation provided. pic.twitter.com/GIg7bJB8GR

— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) March 5, 2024

Berdychi, Russian occupied Donetsk Oblast:

Interesting info from a russian military instructor who covered the defeat of at least two Russian assault groups in Berdychi that assaulted without artillery support. He says the majority of russian FPVs won't even take off due to own EW efforts, rendering assault groups… pic.twitter.com/E9ncBHhT3j

— WarTranslated (@wartranslated) March 5, 2024

Interesting info from a russian military instructor who covered the defeat of at least two Russian assault groups in Berdychi that assaulted without artillery support. He says the majority of russian FPVs won’t even take off due to own EW efforts, rendering assault groups defenceless against Ukrainian fire.

Polohivs’kyi District, Russian occupied Zaporizhia Oblast:

Strikes on several Russian MLRS. Presumably three BM-27 Uragan 220mm MLRS. 26km from the frontline (47.4094722, 36.5261111)https://t.co/bhzHBW3Jjw pic.twitter.com/iB2lQi5DKt

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) March 5, 2024

Belgorod Oblast, Russia:

Air alert in Belgorod. The gas storage near the village of Delgoye was hit by drones. Three tanks are on fire.

Source: Telegram / Mash and 112 pic.twitter.com/GiBkdpBQrf

— (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) March 5, 2024

Moscow, Russia:

Moscow police begins arresting people who went to Navalny's funeral. They're being singled out from videos of the event. https://t.co/ivCeDaw1qI

— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) March 5, 2024

That’s enough for today.

Your daily Patron!

There are no new Patron tweets or videos. Here’s some adjacent material from the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

A power nap in the trenches.

📷: 128 @TDF_UA Brigade pic.twitter.com/9MWoy5W24x

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) March 5, 2024

Open thread!