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

With the help of the international community, Ukraine wants Russia to be held accountable for its war of aggression and the destruction it caused.

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

With the help of the international community, Ukraine wants Russia to be held accountable for its war of aggression and the destruction it caused. In his talks with foreign politicians and in exchanges between Ukrainian authorities and Western institutions, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily video address. "The main theme of all these events is Russia's responsibility for war and terror."

After briefly listing the latest Russian attacks and recent damage, including the water supply failure in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, Zelenskyy accused the invaders of destructiveness. "Well, what can you say about them? This is the real essence of these random comrades who took over Russia," said Zelenskyy. "After 20 years of rule, a large part of their state is as ruined as if there had been a war there."

Zelenskyj: Russians only know destruction

"They are capable of nothing but destruction," the Ukrainian head of state accused the Russian leadership. "And what they are doing against Ukraine now is their attempt to take revenge. To take revenge for the fact that the Ukrainians have repeatedly defended themselves against them."

His country will defend itself against Russia by any means necessary. "Ukraine will never take orders from these comrades in Moscow," he said. And Ukraine will do everything to restore every object, every house, every business destroyed by the invaders.

Ukrainian army spokesman: Dozens of attacks in Donbass

Despite the cold, sleet and rain, heavy fighting continues in the Donbass in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian armed forces fended off dozens of attack attempts by Russian troops every day, said Serhiy Cherevatyy, spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian army. The areas around Bakhmut and Avdiivka were at the center of the heaviest fighting. The Russian armed forces, supported by combat aircraft, used rocket launchers, mortars and tanks in addition to barrel artillery. The information could not be independently verified.

On average, the Russian army carries out around 200 artillery strikes in the region every day, said Cherevaty. "But despite these efforts, the enemy has not been able to break through our defenses for months."

Airborne alerts went off in several parts of Ukraine late Monday evening. According to a report by the Unian state agency, several explosions were heard in Poltava and Dnipro. Further information was not initially available.

Ukrainian minister laments Russian rocket attacks

The Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Resnikov came up with unusual numbers. Since the war began nine months ago, Russia has used more than 16,000 missiles, he said, targeting civilian targets 97 percent of the time. "We are fighting a terrorist state," Reznikov wrote on Twitter. However, his numbers do not match those of the President. Zelenskyy said a week ago that Russia had fired almost 4,700 rockets at Ukraine since the beginning of the war.

General Staff: Russians are dying ingloriously

According to the General Staff in Kyiv, Ukraine, Russian soldiers continue to meet "an inglorious death". A Russian unit in the Luhansk region in the east lost around 70 percent of its soldiers last week. A Russian command staff was hit in the Cherson region. Again, this information could not be independently verified.

That will be important on Tuesday

At a meeting in Berlin, the justice ministers of the G7 countries are dealing with investigations into war crimes committed in Ukraine. Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann also invited a delegation from Ukraine to the deliberations. The government in Kyiv advocates a special tribunal to prosecute Russian crimes in Ukraine, which deals with the crime of aggression under international law.

With a view to the G7 meeting, the Ukrainian Justice Minister Denys Maljuska reiterated his country's demand that Russia pay for the war damage. "Russia has to pay reparations, as we have seen in other regions in past wars," he told the Funke media group's newspapers. A loss of 150 billion dollars is assumed, "which does not include the economic damage and does not include the costs for the injured and war victims and their families".

At a meeting in the Romanian capital Bucharest, the foreign ministers of the 30 NATO countries are discussing further options for supporting Ukraine. According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, this will include the delivery of goods that are not used to kill people. This means, for example, winter equipment for the armed forces, medical material and jammers for countering drones. NATO's delivery of deadly weapons and ammunition is said to remain a matter for individual member states because of the risk of further escalation of the conflict with Russia. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was invited to the meeting as a guest.

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