Ukraine says it expects more Russian attacks this week

Fighting between Ukrainian militants (our photo) and Russian occupation forces on the Donetsk front Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty/Sergey Nuzhnenko via Reuters

Ukrainian officials said on Monday they expect a new wave of Russian bombing this week, with earlier shells targeting critical infrastructure and causing widespread water and power cuts, including in Kyiv.

“It is very likely that the beginning of the week will be marked by such an attack,” Natalya Gumenyuk, spokeswoman for the southern command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said on Monday, noting that a Russian missile carrier appeared in the Black Sea. “This is a surface missile carrier that carries eight Caliber missiles. This suggests that preparations are underway, ”she added to Ukrainian television.

According to the Ukrainian Navy, 11 Russian warships, including this missile carrier, are currently in the Black Sea off the coast of Ukraine, as well as several others in the Azov and Mediterranean Seas, for a total of 76 warheads that can be withdrawn. .

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned in a video message Sunday night that “the coming week could be just as difficult as last week,” marked by Russian bombing raids that caused massive power outages as winter temperatures set in.

“Our defense forces are getting ready. The entire state is preparing. We are working on all scenarios, including with Western partners,” he added, urging Ukrainians to pay attention to the air raid alert.

He also reported on a “very difficult” situation on the front, especially in the Donetsk region in the east, where fighting has concentrated since the withdrawal of Russian troops from the city of Kherson in the south.

According to the daily report of the Ukrainian president, four civilians were killed in the country over the past 24 hours, 11 were injured.

In Nova Kakhovka, a Russian-occupied city near Kherson, one civilian was killed and another injured in Ukrainian shelling on Sunday night into Monday, the pro-Russian administration said.

After Russian strikes last Wednesday, millions of Ukrainians were left without electricity. According to the national operator Ukrenergo, the country is still experiencing a shortage of electricity on Monday in relation to 27% of houses, and emergency shutdowns continue to operate throughout the territory. The Kyiv region is deprived of electricity by 40%, said its governor Oleksiy Kuleba.

Chemical weapon

On the other hand, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has increased the threat of weapons of mass destruction, including chemical munitions, the head of the Global Toxic Weapons Watch said on Monday.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) continues to closely monitor the situation in Ukraine, its head Fernando Arias said at the annual meeting of the regulator. “The situation in Ukraine has once again exacerbated the real threat posed by weapons of mass destruction, including chemical weapons,” Arias said during a meeting at the organization’s headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Threats and allegations of possible use of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons have been exchanged since the start of the war in Ukraine in February, but without any evidence that they were deployed.

Mr. Arias recalled that Russia and Ukraine are among the 193 countries that “solemnly and voluntarily pledged never under any circumstances to develop, manufacture, acquire, stockpile, transfer or use weapons-grade chemicals.”

According to Arias, the OPCW provided Ukraine, at its request, with training in first aid for chemical attacks and the detection of chemical leaks.

Finally, the European Union gave itself the opportunity on Monday to authorize a circumvention of the restrictive measures taken against Russia to ensure their implementation, the Czech Republic, which chairs the EU Council, said. European governments have “unanimously” decided to make it a “crime” to violate European sanctions, the presidium said in a press release. Specifically, this decision will allow the imposition of sanctions against third countries and their citizens or their organizations guilty of circumventing the sanctions adopted by the EU against Russia.

The Europeans adopted eight sets of sanctions, including a halt to oil and coal purchases, to deprive Moscow of sources of funding for the war in Ukraine.

Source: AFP.

Source: L Orient Le Jour

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