The situation becomes “more and more difficult” for Ukrainians in the Donbas region, where Moscow bombards the city of Severodonetsk day and night, while the verdict is awaited on Monday in Ukraine’s first war crimes trial against a Russian soldier.
Russia is concentrating its troops in Donbas, said the governor of the Lugansk region, Sergei Gaidai. It displaces units withdrawn from the Kharkov region in the north, troops who participated in the siege of Mariupol in the southeast, militias from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, Chechen forces and troops mobilized from Siberia and the Russian Far East, the source said. .
“All Russian forces are concentrated in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions”, stated Gaidai on Telegram. The same happens in terms of weapons. “Everything is concentrated here,” added the governor, including the S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems, similar to the American Patriot.
Severodonetsk, a crucial point in the battle for Donbas, is under fire from Moscow “24 hours a day,” Gaidai denounced indignantly.
“They use the scorched earth tactic, they deliberately destroy the city with aerial bombardment, the multiple rocket launchers, the mortars or the tanks that shoot at the buildings”, he pointed out.
The Ukrainian military announced Sunday on Facebook that at least seven civilians were killed and eight wounded in the shelling of 45 communities in the Donetsk region.
The fate of Severodonetsk resembles that of Mariupol, with an apocalyptic landscape after several weeks of siege. Its neighborhoods are a mass of metal sheets and rubble, its buildings destroyed by missiles and projectiles. Hundreds of thousands of inhabitants have fled, others died. The death toll is unknown, but it is undoubtedly huge.
(In other news: Russian-Ukrainian war: images of soldiers in Mariupol).
War crimes trial
In kyiv, the verdict is expected this Monday in the first trial for war crimes. A 21-year-old Russian soldier is accused of killing a 62-year-old civilian who was pushing his bicycle while talking on the phone.
In a hearing last week, Vadim Chichimarine declared that he “sincerely regretted” what happened and “apologized” to the victim’s widow, while justifying his actions by the “orders” received.
The prosecutor asked for life imprisonment. According to the Ukrainian prosecutor’s office, the country opened more than 12,000 investigations for war crimes since February 24when the Russian invasion began.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky will address the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos by videoconference.
Several Ukrainian leaders will be present at the Swiss station, including Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
Russia was excluded from the WEF and the “Russian house”, usually open for the forum, will be replaced by a “Russian house”.russian war crimes house”, where support events with Ukrainian personalities will be held. Before the world’s leading economic leaders, Zelensky could insist on kyiv’s desire to join the European Union (EU), an issue that divides the bloc’s members.
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