Local militias repel Russian attempts to seize Kharkov, the country’s second largest city. In addition, President Volodimir Zelensky assured that he is willing to negotiate, but that he will not do so in Belarus. Meanwhile, Russia destroys oil and gas facilities.
Russia’s militias continue to press into Ukraine, this time with Kharkov as their main target. The strategic importance of the second most important city in Ukraine makes it a theater of combat.
For now, according to local authorities, the Ukrainian troops are repelling the Russian attacks in the streets and, like Kiev, it continues to be controlled. In addition, President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke out against negotiating in Belarus, but made it clear that he is willing to do so elsewhere.
These are the most important news of day 4 about the war in Ukraine:
8.01 (BOG) Ukraine initiates lawsuit against Russia in the International Court of Justice
This Sunday, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that his country had filed a complaint with the UN High Court based in The Hague, for the military incursion that began last Thursday.
Through his Twitter account, the Ukrainian president stated that “Russia must answer for manipulating the notion of genocide to justify aggression.” “We demand an urgent decision ordering Russia to cease its military activity now and we expect the trials to begin next week,” he added.
Previously, in the television message he issued, he said that the invasions and aggressions suffered by cities such as Kiev and Kharkov deserve to be judged by an international tribunal. These actions caused 368 thousand people to have left the territory, according to the latest data from the United Nations Refugee Agency.
Ukraine has submitted its application against Russia to the ICJ. Russia must be held accountable for manipulating the notion of genocide to justify aggression. We request an urgent decision ordering Russia to cease military activity now and expect trials to start next week.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 27, 2022
7.37 (BOG) Scholz announces responses against “Putin’s war”
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, communicated this Sunday in an extraordinary session of the lower house of the Bundestag that Germany will invest 100 billion in defense, which is equivalent to 2% of its economic production.
“We will have to invest more in the security of our country to protect freedom and democracy,” he asserted. Furthermore, he warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that it would be a mistake to underestimate the determination of the West.
Among the challenges and threats mentioned by the Teutonic president is that of “preventing Putin’s war from spreading to other European countries” and accused Moscow of wanting to forge an empire and reconfigure the European map, something he called a “new was”.
Against this background, Scholz stressed that it is necessary for the Bundeswehr – the German armed forces – to be “efficient, state-of-the-art and advanced.” For that, it will invest in better equipment, more modern, more people.
Wir müssen Kriegstreibern wie Putin Einhalt gebieten. Das setzt eigene Stärke voraus. Wir wollen die Bundeswehr modern und stark ausrüsten und dafür mehr als 2 Prozent unserer Wirtschaftsleistung einsetzen. Ja, wir wollen und werden unsere Freiheit und unseren Wohlstand sichern!
— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) February 27, 2022
06.04 (BOG) Russia detonates oil and gas bases in Ukraine
Moscow troops entering Kharkov blew up a natural gas pipeline, a Ukrainian state agency said.
In addition, the Russian missiles collided overnight with an oil terminal in Vasilkov, southwest of Kiev, said the city’s mayor Natalia Balasinovich. “The enemy wants to destroy everything,” she stated.
5.35 (BOG) Zelensky rejects the offer to negotiate in Belarus
The Ukrainian president declined the possibility of talks on Belarusian territory after Russia announced the sending of diplomatic personnel. Volodimir Zelensky justified his motives in the complicity of Alexander Lukashenko’s government in the aggression suffered by Ukraine.
“The Russian delegation made up of representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense and other entities, including the Presidential Administration, arrived in Belarus for talks with the Ukrainians,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
However, through a television message, Zelensky was blunt in asserting that they should find another venue for the talks since Russia uses Belarus to attack Ukraine. “If aggressive actions did not take place there, we could talk in Minsk. But now we say: not Minsk. The space for the meeting can be in other cities”, he expressed.
The president affirmed that the Ukrainians want “to talk, that the war ends.” “Warsaw, Budapest, Istanbul, Baku, we proposed this to Russia. In fact, it can be any city in any country that does not launch missiles at us,” he added.
5.21 (BOG) Kharkov, the epicenter of the clashes
The second most important city in Ukraine is suffering from the fighting generated by the Russian units, who intend to control it due to its strategic value heading towards Kiev, the nation’s capital.
However, the Moscow military made more losses than gains, according to the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine, who stated that “enemy vehicles move through the city.”
“We fought in Kharkov and Russia suffers casualties. There is already information about the first vehicle of the Russian occupiers who broke into it. The fight continues,” added the entity that also released a couple of videos of Muscovite armored vehicles on fire.