209th day of the war: "Naive blackmail": Ukraine reacts calmly to the Russian announcement of union referendums

The United Nations General Assembly is meeting in New York from today.

209th day of the war: "Naive blackmail": Ukraine reacts calmly to the Russian announcement of union referendums

The United Nations General Assembly is meeting in New York from today. Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be there. On the other hand, Ukraine is taking its complaint about the Russian war of aggression to the highest stage of world public opinion. It is an important day and he is preparing his subsequent speech via video link, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the start of the UN general debate. "There will be important signals from our state," he announced in a speech distributed from Kyiv on Monday evening.

The Ukrainian head of state is scheduled to speak on Wednesday - exceptionally via video link instead of at the lectern of the General Assembly. Russia had tried to only allow Zelenskyj to speak in the foreseeable, unlikely event that he would have come to New York in person. The member states rejected this condition with a majority, so that Zelenskyj is now involved.

In the battle, the Ukrainian President urges the counter-offensive to speed up in order to establish normal structures as quickly as possible. On the other hand, the separatist areas of Donetsk and Luhansk are calling for a referendum with the aim of being annexed to Russia as quickly as possible.

The events of the 209th day of the war in the stern live blog.

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