Day 341 since the beginning of the war: Ukraine discusses an Olympic boycott. Conventional troops are to replace Wagner mercenaries in Bachmut. All information in the news blog.
The most important things at a glance
Stoltenberg demands more military support from South Korea
3.42 a.m.: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg calls on South Korea to increase military support for Ukraine. “If we don’t want autocracy and tyranny to win, then (the Ukrainians) need weapons, that’s the reality,” Stoltenberg said in a speech at the Chey Institute in Seoul. South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol said the law bans it from supplying arms to countries involved in military conflicts. Stoltenberg points to countries like Germany, Sweden and Norway that have followed similar policies but have since changed them. South Korea has signed deals for hundreds of tanks, planes and other weapons for NATO member Poland and sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the war began
Governor: Russian missile hits apartment building in Kharkiv
11.30 p.m.: According to the region’s governor, Oleg Synehubov, a Russian missile hit an apartment building in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Rescue teams are on their way to the building, Synehubov said on Telegram. According to initial indications, it is a C-300 missile. Information on injuries and damage is not yet available. According to a Reuters photo, the apartment building is on fire.
Erdogan: Could only agree to Finland’s NATO proposal
9:26 p.m.: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatens Sweden to only allow Finland to join NATO. “We could send a different message to Finland. Sweden will be shocked when it sees our answer,” Erdogan said in a TV speech. Read more here.
Zelenskyy: 2023 “Year of Victory”
8:39 p.m.: Despite the currently difficult situation at the front, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shown himself confident of victory against the Russian attackers. “2023 must and will definitely be the year of our victory!” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram on Sunday. In his video speech every evening, he also conceded, with a view to the hard-fought east of his country: “The situation is very tough.”
In the Donetsk region, the cities of Bakhmut and Wuhledar in particular are still exposed to constant Russian shelling. Despite high losses in their own ranks, the Russians did not reduce the intensity of their attacks there. “Russia hopes to prolong the war and exhaust our forces,” said Zelenskyy. “So we must make time our weapon. We must hasten events.” In particular, the speed of delivery of foreign military aid is a key factor in this war, the Ukrainian leader stressed. He also insisted once again on further arms deliveries beyond the main battle tanks recently promised by the West.
Esken does not explicitly rule out the delivery of fighter jets
7.15 p.m.: SPD party leader Saskia Esken has not expressly ruled out the delivery of fighter jets to Ukraine. Read more about it here.
Ukraine reports shelling in Kherson – several dead
6:42 p.m.: According to local authorities, three people were killed as a result of Russian shelling in Cherson, southern Ukraine. Six others were injured, the Kherson regional administration announced on Sunday. Among other things, a clinic building was hit. A regional politician also published photos of a badly damaged building. The regional capital of the Kherson region of the same name, which the Ukrainian army recaptured a few months ago, has repeatedly come under heavy fire from Russia’s armed forces.
For their part, the Russian occupiers in the neighboring region of Zaporizhia reported four deaths from Ukrainian shelling. The information from the war zone is often difficult to independently verify. Along with Cherson, Donetsk and Luhansk, Zaporizhia is one of the Ukrainian regions that Russia occupies in part and annexed last year. In addition, Moscow annexed the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in violation of international law back in 2014.
Heusgen supports delivery of fighter jets to Ukraine
2:55 p.m.: The head of the Munich Security Conference, Christoph Heusgen, advocates the delivery of fighter jets to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia. In Sunday’s ARD program Europamagazin, Heusgen said: “I believe that the delivery of fighter jets is adequate to better protect Ukraine against Russian attacks.” According to him, American F16 fighter jets or Soviet-designed fighter aircraft from old GDR stocks could be used. Foreign forces are allowed to supply Ukraine with weapons, including main battle tanks and fighter jets, under international law, Heusgen added.
