Dhe last few days of this year could bring new Russian missile and drone attacks, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s fears. The population should prepare for all scenarios. “We must be aware that our enemy will try to make this time dark and difficult for us,” Zelenskyy said in his daily video address on Sunday evening. Russia lost everything it could lose this year. “But it is trying to make up for its losses with the cunning of its propagandists after the missile attacks on our country, on our energy sector.”
“I know that the darkness will not prevent us from leading the occupiers to their new defeats,” Zelenskyy said. “But we have to be prepared for every scenario.”
Zelenskyj addressed sharp words to the Russian military, who killed at least 16 people and wounded another 64 in artillery attacks in Kherson in the south of the country on Saturday. “Beasts,” he said. “We will find every killer.”
Putin sees Russia on the right track
Ten months after the start of his war against Ukraine, Vladimir Putin sees Russia on the right course, despite growing tensions with the West. “I think we’re moving in the right direction, we’re protecting our national interests, the interests of our citizens, our people,” said the 70-year-old president in a short interview published by Russian state television on Sunday.
In it, the President again stressed that Russia was ready to negotiate a solution to the conflict. “We stand ready to agree on any acceptable solutions with all those involved in the process. But that’s their business. We don’t reject negotiations, they do,” Putin said. He had started the war on February 24th.
Kyiv does not believe in the Kremlin chief’s words. “Russia does not want negotiations and is trying to avoid responsibility,” Zelenskyi’s adviser Mykhailo Podoliak tweeted. “Therefore, it is obvious that we are moving to a tribunal.” According to Kiev’s ideas, Russia’s political and military leadership should answer for the war of aggression before an international court of justice modeled on the Nuremberg tribunal.
In the past few days, Putin has indicated several times that he is willing to negotiate, but without going into the preconditions set by Kyiv. While Moscow would negotiate on the basis of today’s front line, Kyiv initially demands the complete withdrawal from Ukraine, including Crimea, as well as reparation payments.
The Ukrainian armed forces say they have disabled a Russian command post in an attack in the Cherson region in the south of the country. The staff in the village of Sabaryne was attacked during an officers’ meeting, the general staff of the Ukrainian army said in Kyiv on Sunday. At least 70 soldiers were wounded in the process, and the number of dead is not yet certain. The information could not initially be verified independently.
During the course of the war, the Ukrainian defenders repeatedly attacked Russian command centers and command posts. These had been localized either by monitoring the radio traffic or the mobile network. Several high-ranking Russian officers have already been killed.
Battles for Bachmut continue
Russian invading forces have continued their attacks against the frontline town of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. The attackers were inflicted “systematic heavy losses,” said Serhiy Chervatko, spokesman for the Ukrainian Army Group East on Sunday. At least 50 Russian soldiers have been killed and another 80 wounded since Saturday alone. The information could not be independently verified.
