Police officers look at the collected fragments of rockets that hit Kharkiv.
(Photo: dpa)
Kyiv In view of the winter that has already set in, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has appealed to the population for stamina and resilience. “The enemy very much hopes to use winter against us: to make the winter cold and hardship part of their terror,” he said in his daily video address Sunday night. “We must do everything to survive this winter, no matter how hard it is.”
Russia does have an advantage with missiles and artillery. “But we have something the occupier doesn’t have and won’t have. We protect our home, and that gives us the greatest possible motivation,” emphasized Zelenski. The Ukrainian people fight for freedom and defend the truth.
“To get through the winter, we need to be more resilient and united than ever,” Zelensky said.
War winter: UNHCR expects more displaced people inside Ukraine
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is anticipating an increase in displacement within Ukraine due to the ongoing Russian war of aggression rather than a large flow of refugees towards the EU countries. “The most likely scenario is further displacement within Ukraine,” UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said in an interview with Der Spiegel published on Sunday. “I hope there won’t be another large movement of refugees.” At the same time, he qualified: “But war is unpredictable.”
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In view of the winter weather and ongoing Russian attacks on the country’s civilian infrastructure – especially on electricity and heat supply facilities – there have been repeated fears that many more Ukrainians could now flee to the EU. The German Ambassador in London, Miguel Berger, said on Sunday: “We are very concerned because these attacks on energy infrastructure mean that many people in the freezing temperatures could be forced to leave Ukraine.”
The head of the UN refugee agency UNHCR expects more refugee movements within Ukraine.
(Photo: Reuters)
According to UNHCR, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the end of February has led to the largest displacement of people in decades. Filippo Grandi only said in New York at the beginning of November that around 14 million people had been driven from their homes since the beginning of the war. Almost eight million have sought protection abroad, one million of them in Germany.
Several Russian rockets hit the city of Zaporizhia on Monday night. The target of the attacks were industrial buildings and energy infrastructure objects, reported the state agency Unian. No information was given about possible victims or the extent of the damage.
Ukrainian Prosecutor General: Russian soldiers are using sexual violence as a ‘method of war’
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin denounced a “dramatic increase” in sexual violence by Russian soldiers. As a result of the Russian war of aggression, all genders and age groups are affected, children as well as the elderly, Kostin told the Funke media group and the French newspaper Ouest-France (Monday). Russian soldiers used sexual violence in a targeted manner – as a “war method to humiliate Ukrainians,” he said.
Four months ago, only 40 cases of sexual violence were registered, but now there are more than 110 cases. “Strongly rising trend.” In addition, there is a high number of unreported cases. “In many cases, people are raped, tortured and then killed by Russian soldiers. Rapes often take place in front of relatives and children,” said Kostin. Occupied areas are particularly affected.
According to Kostin, Russian commanders often ordered rapes or at least supported them. The information provided by the Attorney General could not initially be independently verified.
According to Kostin, almost 8,500 civilians, including 440 children, have been killed in Ukraine since the war began a good nine months ago. More than 11,000 civilians were injured. The Attorney General’s Office has taken on 50,197 war crimes cases so far, he told the newspapers.
Oil sanctions against Russia come into effect
From Monday, crude oil from Russia may only be imported into the European Union in exceptional cases. The import restriction is based on a sanctions regulation passed by the 27 member states in June because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. It came into force shortly after the decision, but provided for transitional periods for the oil embargo. Also effective this Monday is a regulation that is intended to cap the selling price of Russian oil to other countries to a maximum of 60 US dollars per barrel. Russia has already threatened countermeasures.
More: Don’t miss any developments in the Ukraine war – everything new in our news blog