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A man runs in front of a destroyed building in Bakhmut in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk: Zelenskyj describes the situation there as "particularly serious"
Photo:
ANATOLII STEPANOV / AFP
That says Kyiv
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described the military situation in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk as "particularly serious".
In his late-night video address, he explained that the region was Russia's top priority - and therefore the same is true of Ukraine.
"We're doing everything we can to curb enemy activity," said Zelenskyy.
"It's our #1 target at the moment because Donbass is still #1 target for the occupiers."
Zelenskyj also spoke about the mobilization of Russia: Moscow only wanted to delay the moment of its own defeat.
'They felt they were going to lose.
And they're just trying to delay that moment in order to have at least some activity on the front line,” he said.
"Unfortunately, the Russian people are not yet aware of the full brutality of the Russian government against their own people." That must be made clear to the Russians.
Around seven months after the war began, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered reservists to be mobilized last Wednesday.
Since then, there has been horror in many places in Russia.
There are protests across the country.
International reactions
CDU leader
Friedrich Merz
complains of "social tourism" from Ukrainian refugees to Germany.
"We are now experiencing social tourism from these refugees: to Germany, back to Ukraine, to Germany, back to Ukraine," said Merz in an interview with Bild TV, which was broadcast on Monday evening.
The background, according to Merz: Initially, Ukraine refugees were entitled to care under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act - since June they have received basic security, i.e. the same benefits as Hartz IV recipients.
In his own words, Merz expects problems with refugees from Russia "if the Federal Government did what the Federal Minister of the Interior suggested, namely to give practically all conscientious objectors to military service mobilization in Russia access to the Federal Republic of Germany".
The Union is “strictly against it”.
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) had told the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung" that deserters threatened with severe repression usually received international protection in Germany.
"Anyone who courageously opposes the regime of President Vladimir Putin and therefore puts himself in the greatest danger can apply for asylum in Germany because of political persecution."
The chairman of the Munich Security Conference,
Christoph Heusgen
, is in favor of supplying the Leopard main battle tank to Ukraine.
"The Ukrainians want these heavy weapons," said the former foreign policy advisor in an interview with the "Rheinische Post".
He can understand that the federal government refuses to go it alone on this issue.
However, he suggests that Germany should bring together all states that have such a tank in a consortium.
"Then these countries could deliver Leopard tanks, train Ukrainian soldiers in them and jointly ensure the maintenance of military equipment," Heusgen said.
Thousands of people demonstrated in several East German federal states on Monday evening against the high prices as well as Russia and energy policies.
According to the first counts, more than 11,000 demonstrators came together in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania at around 20 locations, around 4,500 of them in Schwerin, as a police spokesman said in the evening.
According to preliminary information from the police situation center, around 3,000 demonstrators were on the move in Saxony-Anhalt.
According to initial information from the police in Thuringia, there were thousands of people.
There were initially no concrete figures for Saxony – but according to a police spokeswoman, there were around a thousand demonstrators at the start of the demonstration at 6:30 p.m. in Leipzig alone.
The
US government
again warned Russia in no uncertain terms against the use of nuclear weapons.
The consequences would be "extraordinary" and "real," said US State Department spokesman Ned Price on Monday evening (local time) on CNN.
This was also made very clear to Moscow.
"We didn't give the Russians a shred of doubt," Price said.
The US government means business.
Price declined to say exactly what those consequences would be.
Putin said last week: "If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will absolutely use all available means to protect Russia and our people."
That's not a bluff.” Observers saw it as a threat to use nuclear weapons.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had already spoken of "catastrophic" consequences at the weekend.
What is happening today
The mock referendums on annexation by Russia ended today in four Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine: in the separatist areas of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine's Donbass and in the southern Ukrainian regions of Cherson and Zaporizhia.
It is expected that Russian President Putin could include the areas in the Russian Federation as early as Friday.
aar/dpa/AFP
