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Destroyed Russian tanks near Kiev (on April 1)
Photo: RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP
What has happened in the past few hours
Heavy fighting for the villages of Bakhmut and Avdiivka in Donbass in eastern Ukraine continues, according to reports from Kiev.
Several advances by Russian troops had been fended off there, the Ukrainian general staff announced in Kiev on Monday evening.
Several attacks from Russian multiple rocket launchers were reported from Cherson in southern Ukraine.
There were dead and injured, it said.
Russian troops and armored vehicles were targeted in several attacks by the Ukrainian air force and the barrel and rocket artillery.
However, the military in Kiev did not give any more detailed information about the location.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indirectly suggested to Moscow that occupation troops be withdrawn from Ukraine by Christmas.
With this step, Russia could reveal its true intentions, Zelensky said in a video link to the G7 summit in Berlin on Monday.
Should Russia withdraw its armies from Ukraine, this would ensure a reliable cessation of hostilities.
“And I see no reason why Russia shouldn't do it now, at Christmas.
The answer from Moscow will show what they really want there,” Zelenskyj was quoted as saying by the Unian state agency.
It is almost impossible that Russia will cease hostilities in the near future.
That says Kyiv
According to his own statement, Zelenskyj expects further attacks on his country's power supply instead.
"After every Russian attack, we restore the system as much as possible," he said in his daily video address on Monday evening.
Everything is being done to bring new equipment into the country to repair the damage.
Nevertheless, it should be borne in mind that Russia has not given up its terrorist tactics.
"The lack of massive rocket attacks only means that the enemy is preparing for new ones and can strike at any time," Zelenskyy said.
"Although it is obvious that we know where to shoot even without light, Russia still relies on blackouts," the president continued.
But this is "the terrorists' last hope".
He called on the population to take air raid alerts seriously in order to be prepared for any eventuality.
"And we will do everything to get through this winter."
For weeks, the Russian military has been targeting the entire energy infrastructure with rockets and so-called kamikazed drones.
As a result, massive failures in the water and power supply are the order of the day.
This tactic is primarily intended to put pressure on the civilian population in winter.
According to estimates by the Ukrainian military intelligence service, Russia still has an arsenal of around 360 cruise missiles.
This is enough for at least five waves of attacks, said spokesman Vadim Skibizkyj.
The first US delivery of technical equipment to rebuild the power grid also reached the country on Monday.
At least two more planeloads are expected to be added to the $13 million worth of power generation assets this week alone, according to Reuters news agency.
humanitarian situation
According to Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal, Ukraine needs rapid aid worth a billion dollars to restore critical infrastructure.
Half of the sum is for electricity and the other half for heat, he explains in an address to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Schmyhal referred to the damage caused by Russian attacks.
"The overriding priority now is the survival phase - quickly restoring critical infrastructure and the power sector to weather the winter."
Debate on tank deliveries
The Chairwoman of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), has confirmed the delivery of further German weapons to Ukraine.
In the program "RTL Direkt" she said: "More self-propelled howitzers have been delivered, now 24 pieces."
When asked whether the German Leopard 2 main battle tank should also be made available to the Ukrainians, she said: »It is urgently needed.
There is no longer any reason not to do it.«
International reactions
According to information from US military circles, Russia is now also using inferior, decades-old ammunition with high failure rates.
"They fell back on their aging stockpiles of ammunition," said a senior insider who asked not to be named.
Some of the ammunition is more than 40 years old.
"In other words, you load the ammo, cross your fingers, and hope it fires or that it detonates on impact." The information has not been independently verified.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has promised Russia a return to economic cooperation if the war in Ukraine is ended.
Scholz said on Monday at the 70th anniversary of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations that Russia will remain the largest country on the European continent even after the end of the war.
It is therefore important to make preparations for this time.
"One thing is clear: the relationships we had are currently being reduced," said Scholz.
»But a Russia that ends the war and citizens in Russia who strive for a different future for themselves also need the opportunity to start economic cooperation again in a different time.«
Scholz continues: »Only that is not now.
Now we are tightening the sanctions.« With his war, Russian President Vladimir Putin is not only destroying the infrastructure, the towns and villages of Ukraine, but also many lives.
Putin is also destroying the future of Russia.
“And that is what he must justify to his own country and people whose future he is affecting in this way.”
With the war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia wants to split Europe into spheres of influence again.
Putin's goal is a new Russian empire.
It is about the gravest violation of international law.
“That's why Russia must not win this war.
And Russia won't win the war either."
The G7 states want to pool their financial support for Ukraine in the future.
"Today the G7 agreed on key moments for a platform that is to coordinate the financial support of all donors," said Scholz in Berlin after a video conference of the group of large industrialized countries (G7).
»The aim is now to build up this platform quickly, with the participation of Ukraine, international financial institutions and other partners.«
Scholz described the reconstruction of the Ukraine as a »human task, comparable perhaps to the Marshall Plan after the Second World War«.
In view of the Russian war of aggression, the G7 group remains "firmly on the side of Ukraine," emphasized the Chancellor.
The "unity" and "determination" of the G7 meant that the Russian president "stands all alone today," said the Chancellor.
"We again call on Putin to stop the senseless killing in Ukraine and withdraw his troops."
In addition to Germany, the G7 group also includes France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Canada and the USA.
Germany hands over the G7 presidency to Japan at the turn of the year.
What is happening today
An international conference on the organization of winter aid to Ukraine is being held in Paris.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) will represent Germany.
In view of the destruction inflicted by Russia, concrete commitments to rebuild the infrastructure should be made.
French President Emmanuel Macron opens the conference together with his Ukrainian colleague Zelenskyy, who is connected via video.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Shmyhal and First Lady Olena Zelenska will also attend the Paris conference.
Specifically, it should go to areas such as water, electricity, food, health and transport.
The French government is proposing an internet platform to better coordinate the needs of Ukraine and international offers of help.
jok/dpa/Reuters