Russian invasion: War against Ukraine: That's the situation

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko has warned of a supply collapse in the Ukrainian capital.

Russian invasion: War against Ukraine: That's the situation

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko has warned of a supply collapse in the Ukrainian capital. In the event of a total failure of electricity, heat and water supplies, citizens should stock up and also consider temporarily finding accommodation outside of the city, Klitschko said on Ukrainian television on Saturday evening.

The city also wants to set up 1,000 heat rooms. However, the city administration countered a report by the "New York Times" that the considerations extended to evacuating the city in the event of a blackout. "The civil defense system has to be prepared for different scenarios, but that doesn't mean that we are preparing for an evacuation," said Roman Tkatschuk, who is responsible for the city's security, on Sunday.

According to Klitschko, around three million people currently live in Kyiv, including 350,000 internally displaced persons from other parts of Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin repeatedly bombed infrastructure in Ukraine. Plants in Kyiv were also damaged. The city is trying to stabilize the grid through staggered power cuts. Whole districts have no light for hours at a time.

According to international humanitarian law, "every possible measure" must actually be taken to protect the lives of civilians and basic infrastructure such as power plants or water supplies.

A collapse in supply is the worst scenario and everything will be done to prevent it from happening, said Klitschko. "But we want to be frank: our enemies are doing everything to ensure that this city is without heating, without electricity, without water supply - in general: that we all die." He also accused Putin of wanting to destroy the Ukrainians as a people. "Putin doesn't need us Ukrainians. He needs the area, needs a Ukraine without us," said Klitschko.

Ukraine reports artillery shelling of southern cities

According to local authorities, Russian troops fired on several cities in southern Ukraine on Sunday night. In Zaporizhia, one person was killed and a civil infrastructure building was destroyed, an employee of the city council said without further details. The Russian Defense Ministry said an ammunition depot belonging to the Ukrainian army was hit in Zaporizhia.

Shells from barrel artillery and multiple rocket launchers hit several places in the Dnipropetrovsk region. A nine-year-old girl was injured in the town of Myrowe, the chairman of the regional parliament, Mykola Lukaschuk, wrote on Telegram. The places hit are on the northern bank of the Dnipro River. Russian troops have occupied the south bank and can shoot from there, for example from the protection of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.

Russia speaks of shelling of the dam

The Russian occupiers, in turn, accuse the Ukrainian forces of firing multiple rocket launchers at the dam wall of the Dnipro dam at Nowa Kakhovka. However, only one of six projectiles hit the wall and caused little damage, said Ruslan Agayev from the Russian city administration, according to the state news agency Tass. "The dam is intact," he said on Sunday. The information was not independently verifiable.

On the dam runs one of two crossings over the Dnipro in the Kherson region. Ukrainian artillery has previously fired on this road to prevent movement of Russian troops. For its part, Ukraine fears that Russian forces could blow up the dam to flood the banks of the lower Dnipro.

There is heavy fighting in the area. The Russian army expects the Ukrainians to want to wrest back the occupied regional capital of Cherson from them. According to the occupation administration, almost 1,000 civilians from Nowa Kakhovka were brought to the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia, and from there to the Russian mainland.

Zelenskyj and von der Leyen talk about financial aid

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about plans for a new aid package for Ukraine worth up to 18 billion euros. The EU Commission explained that she wants to present the package, which is to be divided into monthly tranches of 1.5 billion euros each, in Brussels next week. The advantageous loans should make a "significant contribution" to Kiev's financial needs for 2023. The funds would also support Ukraine to implement further reforms on the way towards EU membership, it said.

Selenskyj only explained on Twitter that he had spoken to von der Leyen about financial support for the current and coming year. Another topic was the importance of grain deliveries from Ukraine via the Black Sea to support global food security.

Iran admits to supplying drones to Russia for the first time

After Tehran admitted to having supplied combat drones to Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Iran of lying. "Even with this confession they lie," said the Ukrainian head of state in his daily video message on Saturday. The number of Iranian combat drones shot down by the Ukrainian air defense system exceeds the "few" drones mentioned by Iran, Zelenskyj justified his accusation. Iran had previously admitted drone deliveries to Russia for the first time - but only spoke of a limited number of deliveries before the start of the war.

Scholz calls for a clear no to nuclear strikes from Russia

Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants Russia to rule out the use of nuclear weapons in a war of aggression against Ukraine. "It is not allowed, it is unacceptable to use nuclear weapons in this conflict," said Scholz on Saturday at the SPD debate convention in Berlin. "We call on Russia to clearly state that it will not do this. That would be a limit that must not be crossed."

NEXT NEWS