The historic old town of Lviv (Lemberg) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Dusseldorf In Kyiv, politicians and the military are preparing for a major Russian offensive in the Donbass. “In the eastern theater of operations, the armed forces of the Russian Federation are completing the formation of an assault force,” the Ukrainian General Staff said in its situation report on Monday.
But the government is combative. “We will not give up our territory,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN. The battle in the Donbass region could affect the course of the entire war.
The focus is on the east of the country. Nevertheless, Russian troops also fired on the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on Monday. According to local authorities, at least six people were killed and eleven others injured in rocket attacks.
A child was among the injured, wrote the mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovy, on his Facebook page. The rescue workers are on duty, he said. The historic old town of Lviv (Lemberg) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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There are different statements about the number of missiles. Sadowyj spoke of a total of five hits, regional governor Maxym Kosyzkyj of four rockets. Three of them hit military objects, one was shot down at a civilian object, a tire service, he said. In addition, a hotel and around 40 cars are said to have been damaged.
Ukrainian railway chief Oleksandr Kamyshin said some rockets exploded near railway objects. Railway workers and passengers were not harmed as a result, he added. “Both the station staff and the train brigades reacted appropriately,” he wrote on the Ukrainian Railways Telegram channel.
Transhipment point for arms shipments from the west
Lviv has been the target of air raids in the past. There are several military facilities in the vicinity of the city. In addition, Russian forces also shelled a fuel depot.
Lviv is also considered an important transhipment point for arms deliveries from the West. Russia had named these arms shipments as a legitimate target for its own airstrikes and recently threatened to intensify its fight against these shipments.
Another target for rocket attacks remains the port city of Mariupol in the Donetsk region. According to Ukrainian information, the city, which was home to around 400,000 people just a few weeks ago, is currently home to 100,000 people.
A destroyed city: just a few weeks ago, 400,000 people were still living in Mariupol.
(Photo: Reuters)
Several thousand Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol are said to have holed up in the huge Azovstal steelworks. According to local authorities, numerous civilians are also on the contested site of the plant, which also includes underground facilities.
People were hiding there from shelling during the weeks-long siege of the city by the Russian military, Mariupol patrol chief Mikhail Vershinin told local television. “They don’t trust the Russians. They see what’s going on in the city, so they stay on site.” The information has not been independently verified.
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In a speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for more weapons for his country in view of the situation in Mariupol and other cities. “Just as Russian troops are destroying Mariupol, they also want to raze other cities and towns in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.”
Volodymyr Zelensky calls for more weapons for national defense.
(Photo: dpa)
We are grateful to the partners who help. “But those who have the weapons and ammunition we need and are holding back their aid must know that the fate of this battle depends on them, too. The fate of people who can be saved,” said Zelensky.
Military experts assume that Ukraine will need significantly more heavy weapons in the east of the country to withstand attacks. This is partly due to the open terrain without large forests. Provided the ground stays dry, tanks can move more easily there, even off-road.
Federal police register another 2,600 refugees from Ukraine
The federal police have so far identified 357,253 refugees from Ukraine in Germany. The Federal Ministry of the Interior announced this on Twitter on Monday. These are mainly women, children and old people. The number of people recorded who fled to Germany because of the Russian attack on Ukraine has increased by almost 2,600 since the previous day.
However, the actual number is likely to be higher because there are no fixed controls at the borders and people with Ukrainian passports can stay in the EU for 90 days without a visa.
Read more about the Ukraine war here:
Again more entries into Ukraine than exits
On Sunday, Poland’s border guards again counted more people entering Ukraine than leaving the neighboring country to the east. Around 19,300 people left Poland for Ukraine, the border guard announced on Twitter on Monday. In contrast, 17,300 people came to Poland from Ukraine in the same period – ten percent fewer than the day before.
According to the UN, more than 2.81 million people have fled to safety in neighboring Poland since the Russian attack on Ukraine began.
According to the authorities, the majority of those returning to Ukraine were Ukrainian citizens. They mostly travel to areas that the Ukrainian army has recaptured. There is no official information on how many war refugees stayed in Poland and how many traveled on to other EU countries.
More: You can follow the latest developments in our news blog