Nearly nine months after the invasion began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said heavy fighting was taking place in Donetsk, while Ukrainian troops continued to fight in Luhansk, where they were making slow advances. Whoever fired artillery at Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear power plant was “playing with fire,” the head of the UN nuclear watchdog warned, as his team prepared to inspect it on Monday to see if it had been damaged by weekend attacks.
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Monday’s highlights, the 271st day of the war in Ukraine, live text:
08:16Since the start of the war, Russia has fired 4,700 missiles at Ukraine, the president of Ukraine said., Volodymyr Zelenski, quoted by dpa. After the recent attacks, more than 20 million people were temporarily without electricity.
A brief recap of recent events:
- President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a speech late Sunday that Russian forces launched nearly 400 strikes in eastern Ukraine on Sunday as part of an artillery campaign. “As before, heavy fighting continues in the Donetsk region. Although there were fewer attacks today as the weather worsened, the volume of Russian shelling is, unfortunately, very high,” Zelenskii said. “In the Luhansk region, we are making slow progress as we fight. So far, there have been nearly 400 artillery strikes in the east since the beginning of the day. “Russia has moved troops to reinforce positions in eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Withdrawn from Kherson”, added the leader from Kiev.
- The UN nuclear watchdog will conduct an assessment of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant on Monday after it was bombed more than 12 times over the weekend. The explosions damaged buildings and equipment, but nothing “critical” to nuclear safety and security, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.
- Germany has provided Poland with a Patriot missile defense system to protect its airspace after an errant missile crashed into the country last week, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said. Ground-based air defense systems such as Raytheon’s Patriot are designed to intercept incoming missiles.
- Ukraine has denied that its forces executed Russian prisoners of war, claiming that his soldiers were defending themselves against the Russians who had faked surrender. Ukraine’s parliament’s human rights commissioner responded Sunday to videos circulating on Russian social media this week showing the bodies of Russian soldiers killed after surrendering to Ukrainian troops. Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said “parts” of a video show that “the Russians used a phased capture… committed a war crime by opening fire on the Ukrainian armed forces.” He said this meant the soldiers “could not be treated as prisoners of war”.
- A key adviser to Ukraine’s president has said that negotiating with Russia would mean a “surrender”. Mihailo Podoliak said the West’s efforts to urge Ukraine to negotiate with Moscow were “strange”, given the series of major military victories achieved by Kiev. “A country that regains its territories must surrender to the country that lost it,” he added.
- The first Ukrainian supermarket opened in Kherson since the city was liberated earlier this month. Huge queues formed at the 24-hour store ATP on Sunday. Kherson is without electricity, running water or heat, but residents are happy to buy Ukrainian pickles, dumplings, horseradish and other favorites.
- France has sent two more air defense systems to Ukraine along with two multiple-launch missiles, according to an interview with a defense minister.
- Emmanuel Macron accuses Russia of fueling disinformation to promote its ‘predatory agenda’ in Africa, where France suffered a military setback. “Many powers that want to expand their influence in Africa are doing it to influence France, to influence its language, to sow doubts, but above all to pursue certain interests,” Macron told TV5 Monde.
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