NU.nl regularly gives you an overview of the situation in Ukraine. With this time: at least two dead and several injured by Russian missile attacks in Sloviansk. Due to continued shelling, the population of the front city of Avdiivka has been called for evacuation. The Ukrainian troops have been reinforced with eighteen German Leopard 2 main battle tanks.
At least two people have been killed in Russian shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk. 29 people were injured and several buildings and homes were damaged.
There were also rocket attacks in Druzhkivka, a city in the Donets Basin. An orphanage, among others, was completely destroyed, but the authorities reported no casualties. “Another day that started with terrorism by Russia,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media.
Due to constant shelling, the municipal staff who maintained Avdiivka also retreated. The situation in the city on the eastern front became too dangerous. Avdiivka was described by the board as a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie.
About 30,000 people lived in Avdiivka before the start of the war. There are about 2,000 of them left. Vitali Barabash, head of the city administration, calls on the remaining population to leave the city as soon as possible. Avdiivka, according to Kyiv, is the new center of gravity of the Russian offensive now that Bakhmut is almost completely in ruins.
Leopard 2 main battle tanks arrived in Ukraine
Eighteen Leopard 2 main battle tanks have arrived in Ukraine, the German newspaper reports The mirror. Germany made the tanks available in January in the fight against Russia.
Forty German Marder infantry fighting vehicles and two armored recovery vehicles have also arrived. The German army has taught Ukrainian troops how to operate the combat vehicles. Those training sessions lasted several weeks and took place on a training ground in northern Germany.
Three Portuguese tanks have also reached Ukraine. At the end of February, Poland already delivered four Leopard 2 tanks to the neighboring country.
1:32Zelensky visits the front line
Zelensky visited soldiers on the frontline in the Zaporizhzhia region of southeastern Ukraine on Monday. There he was updated on the situation at the front and handed out awards.
“I am grateful to all our fighters for defending Ukraine, our sovereignty, our cities and our children,” the head of state told Telegram. “We will definitely win.”
Zelensky met with Rafael Grossi, chief executive of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in Zaporizhzhia. The two talked about protecting the nuclear power plant and the workers. The plant has been in Russian hands since the beginning of the war. The duo also visited a hydroelectric power station on the Dnipro. It supplies the nuclear power plant with electricity.
Ontvang meldingen bij nieuws over de oorlog in Oekraïne
EU is ready for sanctions against Belarus
The European Union is ready to impose new sanctions on Belarus. Russia’s ally would station Russian nuclear weapons.
“Belarus hosting Russian nuclear weapons would represent an irresponsible escalation and threat to European security,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “Belarus can still stop it. It’s their choice. The EU stands ready to respond with further sanctions.”
On Saturday it was announced that Moscow will station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko have agreed on this. Belarus has had ten Russian bombers capable of firing tactical nuclear weapons for some time now.
Experts: ‘Putin is prepared for a long and drawn-out war’
Putin still believes he will win the war against Ukraine. American experts write that Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in a report.
The Russian president is prepared for a long and drawn-out war and hopes to force Ukraine to surrender. He also hopes that the West will get tired of war so that the Ukrainian troops and Zelensky will be left alone, ISW reports.
In short: Putin does not believe that compromise and negotiation are necessary to end the war. He may well come to the negotiating table if Ukraine carries out several successful attacks on Russia. But that is also the question, say the experts.
