Deaths and injuries from Russian shelling

Kyiv Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has emphatically spoken out in favor of a criminal investigation of the Russian war of aggression against his country at international level. “We will smash this entire Russian genocidal system – from the cogs to the architects – and bring it to justice,” Zelensky said Tuesday night in his daily video address. But this is not an easy task.

At a meeting with chief prosecutor Karim Khan from the International Criminal Court in Kiev, Zelensky said, among other things, that he was hoping for help in determining the number of war victims. “We don’t even know the official number of civilians killed in the Russian-occupied territories,” the president said in a statement.

Action by the International Criminal Court against Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, for example, is currently not possible because neither Russia nor Ukraine are contracting parties to the Rome Statute as the legal basis for this court. Kiev is campaigning for international support for a special tribunal.

Ukraine: Deaths and injuries from Russian shelling

Meanwhile, according to the military leadership in Kiev, fighting between the Ukrainian army and Russian units in the Donbass continues. In its evening report, the Ukrainian general staff mentioned fighting near the village of Bohdanivka and in the area of ​​the town of Chasiv Yar.

Russian forces have made progress in encircling Bakhmut, according to Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov. The troops drove a wedge between the villages of Jahidne and Berchiwka. “This breach on the northern flank of Bakhmut poses a clear threat to us,” Zhdanov wrote in comments on social media.

That would coincide with Russian reports that the connecting roads from the besieged city of Bakhmut to the west are already acutely endangered. There were also battles on other sections in the Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk regions. “The most difficult situation is still Bachmut,” said Selenski.

According to the local administration, four people were killed and five injured in Russian shelling in the Cherson area. The information could not be independently verified.

IAEA again alerted to fighting at Ukrainian nuclear power plant

Artillery fire around the Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia again alarmed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Around 20 detonations were apparently heard near the plant on Monday, said IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, citing the UN agency experts stationed in the power plant.

In the recent past, there has been an increasing security presence on the premises. “This is a worrying trend that demonstrates the urgency and importance of establishing a nuclear safety and protection zone at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.”

Poland buys 1000 new armored personnel carriers for its army

The Polish army will receive more than a thousand new “Borsuk” (badger) armored personnel carriers and hundreds of escort vehicles. Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak signed an agreement on this with the manufacturing company Huta Stalowa Wola in southeastern Poland, as reported by the PAP news agency.

Selenski conducts briefings with the military

At a meeting with military leaders, President Zelensky discussed the situation at the front. Eduard Moskalev, who was recently dismissed as head of the so-called United Forces Operation, was given command of the “Odessa” area.

From 2018, the “operation of the united forces” referred to the ongoing fight against eastern Ukrainian separatists as an “anti-terrorist operation”. With the Russian invasion, this separate command structure for the army, national guard and secret service units deployed in the East lost its area of ​​responsibility.

OECD opens its own regional office in Kyiv

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has its own regional office in Kiev from this Wednesday. According to the Ukrainian media, the relevant premises would be provided by the Embassy of Slovakia, said OECD Secretary General Mathias Cormann during a visit to Kiev. A team of four OECD officials will coordinate the implementation of a new country program on the ground, it said. The industrialized nations organization sees Ukraine as a potential member.

More people in Kiev than before the war began

Despite the Russian war of aggression that has been going on for more than a year, more people live in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev than before the war began. “Right now there are about 3.5 million people in the city,” First Deputy Mayor Mykola Povorosnyk told Ukrinform state agency.

Among them are around 230,000 officially registered internally displaced persons. Shortly before the outbreak of war, the official population was just under three million. By mid-March 2022, less than 800,000 people remained in Kiev.

Ukraine Prime Minister: “Most difficult time of the heating season” is over

According to Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal, after repeated heavy Russian air raids on Ukrainian infrastructure, the country is now through “the most difficult period of the heating season”. “We resisted the Russian energy terror and provided warmth in the houses of the Ukrainians,” Schmyhal said.

There have been no power outages in the country’s energy grid for 17 days. “And it’s not to be expected either – unless there is a massive rocket attack.” From October, massive Russian rocket and drone attacks had led to problems with electricity and water supplies in large parts of Ukraine.

That brings the day

A good year after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the foreign ministers of the G20 group of leading economic powers in India will meet on Wednesday. The appearance of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New Delhi is eagerly awaited.

This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the Ukraine war:

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko begins a visit to China. The focus is on expanding the cooperation between the two “comprehensive strategic partners”, as it was called. The visit of Kremlin chief Putin’s ally comes shortly after the presentation of the Chinese position paper on the Ukraine war.

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