Dhe Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insists on further punitive measures by the West against Russia. The sixth package of sanctions by the European states must be accelerated, said the head of state in a video message that was published on Sunday night. He recently spoke about this with Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Many Western countries have already imposed unprecedented punitive measures against Russia.
“The situation in Donbass is extremely difficult,” said Zelenskyy. The Russian army is trying to attack the cities of Sloviansk and Sievjerodonetsk in the east of the country. “Ukraine’s armed forces are holding back this offensive.” Every day that “our defenders” thwart Russia’s plans is a concrete contribution on the road to victory. But Selenskyjs also warned: “We have to keep fighting.”
Fighting in Donbass continues
On Sunday night, the Ukrainian military reported ongoing fighting in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east of the country. Nine attacks by Russian troops were repelled there on Saturday. The Ukrainian army said five tanks, four artillery systems and one drone were destroyed during the day. According to the situation report, Russia is deploying combat aircraft, rocket launchers and tanks along the entire front.
In the Zaporizhia region in southern Ukraine, the local administration says it has observed increasing numbers of Russian drone flights. The Russian military has increased aerial reconnaissance, it said. In addition, columns of military vehicles were sighted. Zaporizhia is northwest of the Ukrainian port of Mariupol, which has since been occupied by Russia, on the Sea of Azov.
Killed civilians again
Ukraine once again blamed Russia for the deaths of seven civilians in the part of Donetsk region controlled by government forces. The governor of the region, Pavlo Kyrylenko, wrote on the Telegram news channel that three people had been killed in Lyman alone. He initially did not comment on the exact circumstances. In the Russian-held region of Kherson in the south, the local administration accused Ukrainian forces of killing three civilians and injuring ten in the town of Biloserka on Saturday. This information could not be verified.
Exchange for Ukrainian fighters from Mariupol?
Prominent Russian foreign politician Leonid Slutsky did not rule out an exchange of Ukrainian fighters captured in Mariupol for pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk. “We will examine the possibility of replacing Medvedchuk with Azov militants,” Slutsky said, according to the Interfax agency. He later explained in his blog on the Telegram news channel that the fighters would have to be brought to justice in any case. There is no way around a tribunal, he stressed. Competent people would have to decide whether Medvedchuk should be replaced.
According to Russian sources, more than 2,400 Ukrainian soldiers have surrendered in Mariupol in the past few days. For weeks they had holed up in the bunkers of the Azov steelworks and defended the port city against the Russian occupiers.
Probably foreigners among prisoners of war from steel works
According to the pro-Russian separatists, among the fighters captured at the steel plant are 78 women. According to the Russian state agency TASS, the head of the Donetsk separatists, Denis Puschilin, said on Saturday evening that foreigners had also been taken into Russian captivity. He didn’t give a number. In addition to his compatriots, Zelenskyi had also called on foreigners to fight against Russia.
That brings the day
On Sunday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is setting off on his first trip to Africa since taking office almost six months ago. He also wants to talk about the effects of the Ukraine war on the continent. Africa is affected, among other things, by the sharp rise in grain prices in the course of the war, which has triggered a food crisis. After Senegal as the first travel stop, Scholz wants to visit Niger and South Africa.