2023-10-30 04:34:16
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has described the talks with over 60 states regarding a peace solution for his country as an important signal. Meanwhile, Russia attacked Ukraine once more at night with combat drones. There was an intermittent air alert in large parts of central Ukraine late on Sunday evening. The Air Force said the drones flew in waves over the Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Cherkasy and Khmelnytskyi regions.
Explosions were reported in the Kherson region, but also in the surrounding area of the capital Kiev. As of early Monday morning, there was no information regarding possible hits by the drones or regarding being shot down by Ukrainian air defense.
Fierce fighting continued on the almost 1,000 kilometer long front in the east and south of Ukraine, as the General Staff in Kiev reported. On Sunday alone, 40 Russian attacks were repelled. “The operational situation in the east and south of Ukraine remains difficult,” the evening report said.
As in previous days, a focus of Russian attacks was the city of Avdiivka. As a Ukrainian frontline city, it is located close to Donetsk, which is controlled by Russia and is the center of the Donbass industrial region. Ukrainian troops there repelled ten Russian attacks, it was said.
However, the Russian army continues to try to encircle Avdiivka and is accepting high losses in men and material in order to do so. The Ukrainian military estimates that 4,000 Russian soldiers have been killed there in the past few days. Even if Avdiivka had to be evacuated, it would still fulfill the same function as the city of Bakhmut before, said retired Ukrainian major Oleksiy Hetman on television: the Russian army was wearing itself out there. Bakhmut was conquered by Russia in May following months of fighting.
According to authorities, nine civilians were found shot dead in the city of Volnovakha in eastern Ukraine, which was occupied by Russian troops. Russia’s State Investigative Committee also became involved in the spectacular case. The committee officially announced that two of the dead were children. The dead were found with gunshot wounds in a private house. The suspected perpetrator was a Russian soldier, an independent Russian Telegram channel reported. Four dead are a family with a father, mother and two children; the others were guests in the house.
The Ukrainian Parliament’s ombudsman for human rights, Dmytro Lubinets, also took up this information: The occupiers had extinguished the life of an entire family that was celebrating a birthday and did not want to hand over their home to the occupiers, he wrote on Telegram. According to him, the suspected shooter came from the Russian republic of Chechnya. Volnovakha is located in the Donetsk region and has been occupied by Russian troops since March 2022.
“No matter what happens in the world, the main thing is agreement on the real power of international law,” Zelensky said in his evening video message in Kiev on Sunday. “Because this is unity for the sake of justice for Ukraine and all countries and peoples that might be subject to aggression.”
Over the weekend, senior representatives from 66 states and international organizations discussed the proposals in Malta, which Zelenskyj calls his peace formula. In addition to the core demand for a withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, this also includes the release of all prisoners of war, a tribunal for war criminals and security guarantees for the country.
Before Malta, such meetings took place in Copenhagen and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. Ukraine is trying to find understanding among important emerging and developing countries beyond its Western supporters. Therefore, according to the Ukrainian presidential office, nuclear safety and the secure supply of food and energy were discussed.
Russia, which derides Zelensky’s proposals as unrealistic, was not invited. Ukraine has been resisting the Russian invasion for more than 20 months now.
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