According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian armed forces have the situation on the country's fronts under control. Nevertheless, the military reports of continued Russian attacks in the east of the country - with a focus on Bakhmut.
Today Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) intends to make a government statement a good year after the Russian attack on Ukraine and the associated reorientation of German security policy. The foreign ministers of the G20 group of leading economic powers also want to discuss the future of international conflict resolution in New Delhi on Thursday.
Two dead in attack on home
At least two people were killed in a Russian rocket attack on the city of Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine, according to the authorities. The rocket hit a five-story apartment building on Thursday night, which then collapsed, City Council Secretary Anatoly Kurtyev said on his Telegram channel. "According to the latest information, two people have died." Eleven people were rescued alive from the rubble, including a pregnant woman. The information could not initially be verified by an independent party.
According to the authorities, the search and rescue work was still ongoing in the morning. It is feared that there could be other victims in the collapsed building. Zaporizhia is less than 50 kilometers from the front. In the past few months, the city has been repeatedly shelled with artillery and rockets by Russian troops. In September, Russia declared the Zaporizhia region annexed, although Russian forces have never controlled the region's capital itself.
In mid-January, a Russian missile hit a residential building in the metropolis of Dnipro. More than 40 people were killed. The Russian war of aggression against the neighboring country has been going on for more than a year.
Selenskyj accuses Russians of "deliberate terror".
"We have every area at the front under control," Zelenskyj said yesterday in his nightly video address. However, the people behind the fronts would continue to suffer from the Russian attacks. "Deliberate terror," Zelenskyy said of the Russian artillery attacks on towns and villages behind the fronts in southern and eastern Ukraine.
"In most of our country, where we have managed to provide relative safety, they (residents) may not understand what life is like for people living in the border areas with Russia and in the south of our country," said Zelenskyy. Although the people there are not at the front, they are still directly involved in the war. "There where Russia is constantly trying to destroy everything the people have, constantly - and that's no exaggeration."
Kiev: Russian attacks near Bakhmut continue
According to reports from the Ukrainian general staff, the Russian military continued its attacks in eastern Ukraine unabated yesterday. The city of Bakhmut, which had been fought over for weeks, was once again the focus of the heaviest fighting, as the Ukrainian army command announced in its daily situation report. Russian units are already pressuring the city from three sides.
A series of Russian artillery and air strikes were also reported from around the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. There were also civilian casualties in rocket attacks, it said. No further details were given. The Ukrainian air defense shot down two Iranian-made kamikaze drones in the region.
Russian attacks were also reported from Kremenchuk, southeast of Kiev. The governor of the Poltava region, Dmytro Luni, reported that "civilian and critical infrastructure objects" were hit near Kremenchuk. For the time being, he did not provide any further information on possible victims or damage.
Reports of explosions in Crimea
Several explosions were recorded in Russian-occupied Crimea last night. The detonations were heard in Yalta, Bakhchisarai and Gurzuf in the south of the peninsula, social media reported. There were no official statements on this.
EU could increase incentives for ammunition supplies
Countries like Germany could get significantly more EU money in the future if they quickly deliver urgently needed ammunition to Ukraine. In a discussion paper that became known yesterday, the EU Commission proposes that member states reimburse up to 90 percent of the costs from EU funds in the case of prompt deliveries. So far, the reimbursement rate for such applications has usually been significantly lower.
The states are required to make 155 millimeter caliber artillery ammunition available quickly, according to the paper that is available to the German Press Agency and about which the “Spiegel” initially reported. The transfer must be made from existing stocks or orders pending delivery.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell had already called on the defense ministers of the EU states to expand ammunition deliveries last week. The background was concerns that Ukraine could soon lack urgently needed types of ammunition.
According to a background paper from Estonia, Russia fires an average of 20,000 to 60,000 rounds of artillery ammunition per day, while Ukraine only fires 2,000 to 7,000 rounds per day.
That brings Thursday
A good year after the Russian attack on Ukraine and the associated reorientation of German security policy, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) wants to take stock today in the Bundestag. His government statement is entitled "One year of turning point". On February 27, 2022 - three days after the start of the war - Scholz announced a 100 billion program to upgrade the Bundeswehr in a special session of the Bundestag. The day before, the first arms deliveries to Ukraine for the defense against Russia had been decided.
A good year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the foreign ministers of the G20 group of leading economic powers want to discuss the future of international conflict resolution in New Delhi today. Before the meeting, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called for a clear signal against Russia's war of aggression.
It is eagerly awaited whether Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will cause a scandal at the meeting in New Delhi, as at the recent G20 foreign ministers' meeting on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali. At that time he left the hall after his speech and no longer listened to the comments of his critics.
