Ukraine-News: Zelenskyj sticks to the recapture of Crimea

The situation in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv remains tense after the blackout. According to the utility DTEK, only 30 percent of households there had electricity. The light can initially only be switched on for two or three hours.

Today, Putin wants to meet with the mothers of soldiers deployed or preparing to serve in Ukraine. The Kremlin announced that mothers of professional and temporary soldiers, volunteers and conscripted reservists were invited. After the partial mobilization, mothers in some regions complained that their sons were being sent into battle ill-equipped.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia does not need a war economy to supply its armed forces in the conflict. He demanded that the armaments industry should supply the troops faster and with better products. However, no extraordinary measures are necessary for this. “You just have to organize the work in a precise, high-quality, well-coordinated manner,” he was quoted as saying by the state agency Tass.

The authoritarian Belarusian head of state Alexander Lukashenko has ruled out direct deployment of his army in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. “If we get directly involved in this conflict with the armed forces, with soldiers, we’re not contributing anything, we’re only making it worse,” said Lukashenko, according to a report by the Belta agency. Belarus supports Russia, but its role is different.

Lukashenko has made his country dependent on Moscow available as a deployment area for Russian troops. Ukraine therefore regards the neighboring country as a warring party and keeps troops in reserve in case it has to fend off a direct attack from Belarus.

Despite Western skepticism, Zelenskyy is sticking to the liberation of the Crimean Peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, as a war goal. “If someone shows us a way to end the occupation of Crimea through non-military means, then I will be very much in favor of it,” he told the British newspaper the Financial Times. But if a proposal meant that Crimea would be occupied and remain part of Russia, “no one should waste their time on that.”

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy says that the city of Cherson, which was only recently liberated by Ukrainian troops, is shelled almost every hour. On Thursday, Russian troops fired artillery and multiple rocket launchers at the city in southern Ukraine, killing 7 people. About 20 people were injured, said regional governor Yaroslav Yanuschevych. “Today is another terrible page in the history of our hero city.”

Of the Situation report of the Ukrainian General Staff spoke on Thursday of ongoing heavy fighting in Donbass in eastern Ukraine. Russian troops continued to attempt a breakthrough at Bakhmut and at Avdiivka.

Although many Ukrainian households are still without electricity, water or heating, the authorities reported progress in restoring the supply. The power grid is recovering from the blackout on Wednesday. The network operator Ukrenerho announced on Thursday evening that half of the demand could be covered again.

Most thermal power plants and hydroelectric power plants produced electricity again. The nuclear power plants that had been shut down in an emergency returned to the grid. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia nuclear power plant was again supplied with electricity from outside and was not dependent on diesel generators.

On Friday, Putin wants to meet the mothers of soldiers deployed or preparing to serve in Ukraine. The Kremlin announced that mothers of professional and temporary soldiers, volunteers and conscripted reservists were invited. After the partial mobilization, mothers in some regions complained that their sons were being sent into battle ill-equipped.