Ukraine said on Monday that Russia is keeping Ukrainian forces under pressure in the east of the country as it assembles additional troops for a major offensive in the coming weeks, and UN Secretary General António Guterres warned that the world was moving forward. “like a sleepwalker” towards a “wider war” over the conflict in the heart of Europe.
The statements by António Guterres and the Ukrainian authorities come as one of the bloodiest conflicts in Europe since World War II, and one that has had the greatest impact on the global economy so far this century, is nearing its conclusion. first year stuck in the military and without signs of a negotiated exit in the short term.
Fighting has been raging in recent weeks around the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut and in nearby Soledar and Vuhledar, as Ukraine awaits the arrival of heavy weapons promised by the United States, Germany and other allies and Russia warns that this makes them direct participants in the conflict.
The three cities ravaged by the fighting are in the Donetsk province, in the mining and industrial region of Donbass, which includes the neighboring province of Lugansk. Ukrainian separatists now allied with the Russian military have controlled much of the region since 2014, and Russia fully annexed it last October.
We must work harder for peace everywhere.
We must work harder for the two billion people who live in countries affected by conflict & humanitarian crises.
The world needs peace.
—António Guterres (@antonioguterres) February 6, 2023
repercussions
“The battles in the region are intensifying,” Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kirilenko said on Monday on Ukrainian public television, adding that “the Russians are throwing new units into battle and eradicating our cities and towns “.
In Lugansk, Governor Serhii Haidai said Russian shelling had subsided there. “because the Russians are saving ammunition for a full-scale offensive.”
Military analysts believe the Kremlin may be testing weak points in Ukraine’s defense lines in Donbass or may be conducting a diversionary maneuver to launch its main push into southern Ukraine, parts of which it controls.
In kyiv, the Ukrainian Parliament approved on Monday a new quarterly extension of martial law – the sixth since the start of the war with Russia -, thereby extending the ban on leaving the country for all men between 18 and 60 years.
The sanction of the extension came a few hours after the bill was presented by President Volodimir Zelenski, along with the “general mobilization” bill, the Europa Press news agency reported.
International impact of the war
In New York, the UN Secretary General gave a grim analysis of the war in Ukraine and its international impact, amid Russian warnings that the weapons the West gives kyiv will only prolong the conflict without being able to change its course and outcome, which is, according to Moscow, that of Russia’s victory.
“The prospects for peace continue to shrink. The risks of further escalation and carnage continue to increase,” Guterres said in a speech at the United Nations headquarters to present his goals for 2023.
“I fear the world is sleepwalking towards a broader war and I fear it is doing so with wide eyes,” he added.
Russian forces made gains in the first months after the February 24 invasion, though they failed to seize key objectives and then withdrew from large areas in coincidence with a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Western military aid has been essential if Ukraine is to defend itself against a country with a larger military force.
The Norwegian government said today that it intends to donate 75 billion crowns ($7.3 billion) in a multi-year support package for Ukraine.
Jonas Gahr Stoere, the oil-rich Scandinavian country’s prime minister, said the money would be used for a military and civilian aid package over a five-year period once parliament gives its approval.
Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand tweeted Sunday night that a The first German-made Leopard tank to be donated by Canada to Ukraine had arrived in Poland. It is part of a broader tank commitment by Ukraine’s Western allies to help it defeat Russia.
Battle tanks are on their way to help Ukraine.
The first Canadian Leopard 2 is en route.
Canada’s support for Ukraine is unwavering. pic.twitter.com/gnkOC50yKk
— Anita Anand (@AnitaAnandMP) February 4, 2023
bombing
Ukraine’s Presidential Office said Monday that at least one civilian was killed and 10 others injured by Russian shelling in the past 24 hours.
Five of them were injured during shelling of the eastern city of Kharkov, where Russian shells hit residential buildings and a university, it added.
Ukraine further said that the Russian Army fired again at targets across the Dnieper River from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, damaging residential buildings and power lines in the cities of Nikopol and Marhanets.
Russian forces occupied the southern province’s Zaporyia nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, early in the war, and regular shelling of the area stoked security concerns.
The head of the UN nuclear inspectors, Argentine Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)will visit Moscow this week to discuss again the security of the Zaporizhia power plant.