Russian and Ukrainian soldiers are fighting fiercely in south-eastern Ukraine.
(Photo: dpa)
Kyiv In view of the ongoing counter-offensive against the aggressor Russia, Ukraine reports heavy fighting on several front areas, especially in the east. Russian troops attacked at Avdiivka, Mariinka and Lyman in Donetsk region, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar wrote on Telegram on Sunday.
The occupiers also advanced further near Swatowe in the adjacent Luhansk region. “There is fierce fighting going on there. (…) The situation is quite complicated.”
Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the port city of Odessa on the Black Sea. In Russia, an explosion occurred not far from a military airfield. Ukraine has been defending itself against Russian war of aggression for more than 16 months.
Despite the difficult situation, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Maljar also reported on minor successes. Not far from Bachmut, their own army is advancing and has had “partial successes,” she wrote.
In the south, too, Ukrainian troops advanced towards the cities of Berdyansk and Melitopol “in heavy fighting, but gradually”. Maljar spoke of “violent enemy resistance”.
Meanwhile, during a visit to the port city of Odessa, President Zelensky confirmed the planned liberation of currently occupied areas in the south. “The enemy will definitely not dictate the conditions in the Black Sea,” he said in a video message marking Ukrainian Naval Forces Day.
Zelensky visits Odessa: “Will never tolerate occupiers”
Zelensky also published videos from Odessa on Telegram, showing him meeting commanders and visiting wounded soldiers in a hospital. “Together we will win,” he emphasized. “The Ukrainian shores will never tolerate the occupiers!”
Zelenskiy has again asserted that he would never accept a Russian occupation.
(Photo: IMAGO/ZUMA Wire)
Russia currently occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory. Kiev now also wants to liberate the occupied areas with Western military aid.
This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the Ukraine war:
Explosion not far from southern Russian military airfield
According to media reports, a major explosion occurred not far from a military airfield in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar. The social network Telegram published photos of a crater, which is said to be ten by four meters in size and allegedly formed near the airfield in the city of Primorsko-Akhtarsk.
Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said the “incident” was being investigated. There are no victims, he wrote.
What will be important on Monday
A center for the prosecution of Russian aggression in Ukraine will be opened at the EU judicial authority Eurojust on Monday. Evidence is to be collected in the center at the authority’s headquarters in The Hague, but targeted charges against suspected perpetrators are also to be prepared.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) visits the Bundeswehr’s Patriot anti-aircraft contingent in Zamosc in south-eastern Poland. There he also met his Polish counterpart Mariusz Blaszczak. Pistorius then visits the firing positions of the Patriot anti-aircraft systems outside the city.
Bundeswehr personnel operate three Patriot systems at two locations near the border with Ukraine. The Patriot systems are designed to protect Poland’s airspace.
More: All developments in the Ukraine war in our news blog