Ukraine war in Newsblog | Zelenskyy fires senior commander in Donbass

Day 369 since the beginning of the war: Apparently there are attacks on Kiev and Chernihiv. Two explosions are said to have occurred at an airport in Belarus. All information in the news blog.

9.25 a.m.: According to Ukrainian sources, at least one person was killed and four others injured in a Russian drone attack in western Ukraine on Monday. As the mayor of Khmelnytskyi Oleksandr Symchyshyn informed in the online service Telegram, buildings in the city were damaged. The dead man belonged to the rescue workers.

According to the Ukrainian army, Russia had attacked Ukraine overnight with up to 14 drones, eleven of which were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses.

9.01 a.m.: China is reacting to the statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that talks with representatives of the People’s Republic are desirable. The Foreign Ministry in Beijing says China has always maintained communication with all sides of the conflict, including the government in Kiev.

Zelenskyy said on Thursday that it was encouraging that China was considering peace mediation. He would like to meet with Chinese officials, he said when asked about the prospects of meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping. China’s advance, which was announced as a peace plan, was received with reservations by the German government, the EU, the USA and NATO.

4:55 a.m.: A Russian military aircraft of the type A-50 was damaged in a drone attack at an airfield near the capital Minsk, according to Belarusian partisans and members of the exile opposition. “They were drones. The participants in the operation are Belarusians,” the Polish broadcaster “Belsat” quoted a statement by the head of the Belarusian anti-government organization Bypol, Aliaksandr Azarau. “You are safe now, out of the country.” Here you can read more about it.

03:51: According to Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev, the continued supply of arms to Ukraine carries the risk of a global nuclear catastrophe. “Of course, the pumping in of weapons (…) can continue and prevent any possibility of resuming negotiations,” says the deputy chairman of the National Security Council of the pro-government daily Izvestia. “Our enemies are doing just that, ignoring the fact that their goals will surely lead to a total fiasco. A loss for all. A collapse. Apocalypse. Where for centuries one forgets one’s past life, until the debris ceases to radiate.”

11.40 p.m.: On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fired a high-ranking military commander who had been fighting Russian troops in the east of the country. In a one-line decree, Zelenskyy announced the dismissal of Eduard Moskalyov, commander of the combined forces of Ukraine. Moskalyov has been at his post in Donbass since March 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Zelenskyj gave no reason for the dismissal.

11.30 p.m.: Ukrainian media reports of explosions in Kiev. Accordingly, there were explosions over the east bank of the Dnipro River. In the Kiev and Chernihiv regions there was also said to have been an air alarm late on Sunday evening. “Kyiv Independent” reported that the administrator of Chernihiv had confirmed that combat drones had been shot out of the sky from Iran.