“Russia is driving itself deeper and deeper into a dead end” – Ukraine attacks occupied city of Berdyansk

Volodymyr Zelensky

The Ukrainian President is urging Western allies to set up a criminal tribunal for Russia.

(Photo: dpa)

Kyiv, Moscow According to the Ukrainian government, with its rocket attacks on Ukraine’s energy grid, Russia is ultimately harming itself and its citizens. “With each such missile attack, Russia is only driving itself deeper into a dead end” and is heading towards an international criminal tribunal, said President Volodymyr Zelensky in his daily video address on Thursday evening – just a few hours after the latest large-scale Russian attack with cruise missiles and so-called kamikaze drones.

Meanwhile, fighting continues on various sectors of the front in Ukraine.

“The status of the world’s greatest terrorist” will continue to affect Russia and its citizens for a long time, Zelensky said. “And every missile just confirms that this all has to end with a tribunal, that’s exactly what it will be.”

In his talks with other heads of state and government, the Ukrainian president is trying to win their support for an international criminal court modeled on the Nuremberg tribunal for Nazi criminals. If Zelensky has his way, one day politicians and the military from Russia will also take responsibility for the war of aggression against Ukraine.

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According to Zelensky, the latest Russian missile attack has again caused serious damage to the energy grid in large parts of Ukraine. Regarding possible further attacks, he warned: “This year has two days left, maybe the enemy will try again to make us celebrate the New Year in the dark.”

Kyiv: Want to participate in missile investigations in Belarus

After a missile was found on Belarusian territory, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense offered to cooperate in investigating the incident. A ministry statement released on Thursday evening said the agency was ready for an “objective investigation into the incident.” State media in the Belarusian capital Minsk had reported that a missile launched by the S-300 air defense system had fallen on Belarusian territory on Thursday morning.

Rocket fragments in Belarus

How exactly the rocket parts reached Belarusian soil is still unclear.

(Photo: via REUTERS)

The Ministry of Defense in Kyiv pointed out that Ukraine was attacked by a wave of Russian cruise missiles on Thursday. “Therefore, a provocation by the terrorist state of Russia cannot be ruled out, which has chosen a flight path for its cruise missiles in such a way as to provoke their launch in the airspace over Belarus,” it said. That would be similar to what happened in November when a rocket fell on Polish territory.

Belarus is not directly involved in hostilities in Ukraine. However, ruler Alexander Lukashenko has given Russian troops the military bases in his country for attacks on neighboring Ukraine.

Ukrainian army attacks positions near Berdyansk

According to the Ukrainian armed forces, they have attacked Russian bases in the vicinity of the industrial and port city of Berdyansk in the south-east of the country. The general staff in Kyiv announced that around 50 Russian soldiers were “liquidated”. The information could not be independently verified.

The military in Kyiv did not provide any information about the weapon systems used to attack Berdyansk. The city on the Azov Sea lies almost 100 kilometers behind the current front lines.

Russian soldiers in Berdyansk

The Ukrainian city lies behind the front line and has been occupied by Russia for months.

(Photo: IMAGO/SNA)

Heavy fighting shook the area around the front-line town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine on Thursday. The military leadership in Kyiv announced that advances by the Russian armed forces had once again been repulsed there.

The Ukrainian armed forces are likely to continue to receive important support in the form of arms and ammunition from the USA. On Thursday evening (local time), US President Joe Biden signed his government’s new budget law, which among other things provides for billions in aid for Ukraine. The budget, previously approved by both chambers of Congress, is worth $1.7 trillion, of which nearly $858 billion is for defense spending. Around 45 billion US dollars have been earmarked for supporting Ukraine.

This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the Ukraine war:

Zelensky consultant: 15,000 missing in Ukraine

A good ten months after the start of the war, according to the Ukrainian presidential adviser Alona Verbytska, thousands of soldiers and civilians are missing in Ukraine. “Russia has currently confirmed 3,392 Ukrainian prisoners of war, but 15,000 people are currently missing in Ukraine, including many civilians,” she told the editorial network Germany.

The fate of these people is completely uncertain, said Verbytska, who works as an ombudswoman for the rights of Ukrainian soldiers. “We don’t know what happened to them.”

More: Don’t miss any developments in the Ukraine war – everything new in our news blog

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