Soldier fears Ukraine forces not ready for Russian onslaught

So far, Ukrainian forces have managed to hold back many Russian attacks on the eastern front. But Ukrainian authorities say they believe Russian manpower and firepower are being deployed from other regions and are now hitting Ukrainian lines with constant shelling.

Some fear the Ukrainian troops on the frontline aren't necessarily prepared for the brutality of war. 

Euronews' international correspondent Anelise Borges reports from Ukraine's eastern city of Dnipro:

'They don't know what war is': Fears over Ukraine forces' preparedness

An injured military trainer tells Euronews that some soldiers "have no idea of what war is all about" as Russia intensifies its eastern assault.

Civilians being killed in Donetsk assault — UN

Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday that U.N. staff on the ground remain concerned about the impact on civilians by the reported fierce fighting in eastern Luhansk, Donetsk and Kharkiv regions.

He said people are being killed or injured. Homes, civilian infrastructure and residential buildings have been damaged or destroyed.

In the government-controlled part of Luhansk, local authorities informed the U.N. that a bridge leading to the administrative center of the region – Sievierodonetsk – was destroyed on May 21. He said that left the partially encircled city reachable by only one road.

While some people managed to leave Sievierodonetsk over the weekend, Dujarric said local authorities estimate that thousands of civilians remain in the war-affected city and require urgent support.

U.N. humanitarian staff also said that shelling and airstrikes were reported in other areas of Ukraine, including in northern, central and southern parts, claiming civilian lives and damaging civilian infrastructure.

(AP)

20 nations commit new security aid — Pentagon chief

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that some 20 countries had announced new security assistance packages for Ukraine during a virtual meeting with allies on Monday that was aimed at coordinating arms for Kyiv.

The countries that announced new packages included Italy, Denmark, Greece, Norway and Poland, Austin told reporters following a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. Denmark would provide a harpoon launcher and missiles to defend Ukraine's coast, Austin said.

"Everyone here understands the stakes of this war," Austin said.

The top U.S. military officer, General Mark Milley, told the same press conference that the U.S. was still "a ways away" from any reintroduction of U.S. forces into Ukraine.

(Reuters)

Navalny welcomes diplomat's resignation

A spokesperson for the jailed critic of the Kremlin has welcomed the resignation of Russian diplomat Boris Bondarev.

Kyra Yarmysh said on Twitter that the adviser to Russia's UN mission had written that "the modern Russian Foreign Ministry has nothing to do with diplomacy, but only with inciting war, lies and hatred.

"It seems that there was one honest person in the entire Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

Captured Azovstal fighters to face 'tribunal'

The head of the Russia-backed separatist region in eastern Ukraine says that Ukrainian fighters from the Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol who were captured by Russian forces are being held in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and will face “international tribunal” there.

“The plan is to arrange the international tribunal on the territory of the republic as well,” Denis Pushilin was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. Pushilin added that “at the moment the charter for the tribunal is being worked out.”

Pushilin said earlier that 2,439 people from Azovstal were in custody, including some foreign citizens, though he did not provide details.

Family members of the steel mill fighters, who came from a variety of military and law enforcement units, have pleaded for them to be given rights as prisoners of war and eventually returned to Ukraine.

(AP)

Another 48 Russian soldiers to face war crimes trials in Ukraine

Ukraine’s prosecutor general, Iryna Venediktova, said on Monday afternoon there are currently about 13,000 cases of alleged Russian war crimes being investigated, of which 48 will definitely get to court.

It comes after the sentencing of Sgt. Vadim Shyshimarin earlier today: the first Russian to be tried for war crimes since the conflict began.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Venediktova added: "All evidence indicates that the Russian military and political elite has unconditionally reverted to the brutal war tactics of violence.

"Civilian populations and civilian objects – including hospitals, educational facilities, and residential buildings – are internationally targeted in a widespread and systematic manner."

Ukrainian officials have a list of about 600 named individuals thought to have engaged in war crimes. Two cases involving three people are already being prosecuted.

Venediktova also said 4,600 civilians were known to have died as a result of the war, including 232 children, though the real number was likely to be higher.

Russian diplomat hits out at war in resignation letter

 A veteran Russian diplomat to the UN Office at Geneva says he handed in his resignation before sending out a scathing letter to foreign colleagues inveighing against the “aggressive war unleashed” by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.

Boris Bondarev, 41, confirmed his resignation in a letter delivered Monday morning after a diplomatic official passed on his English-language statement to The Associated Press.

“For twenty years of my diplomatic career I have seen different turns of our foreign policy, but never have I been so ashamed of my country as on 24 Feb of this year,” he wrote, alluding to the date of Russia’s invasion.

The resignation amounts to a rare -- if not unprecedented -- public admission of disgruntlement about Russia’s war in Ukraine among the Russian diplomatic corps.

“The aggressive war unleashed by Putin against Ukraine, and in fact against the entire Western world, is not only a crime against the Ukrainian people, but also, perhaps, the most serious crime against the people of Russia, with a bold letter Z crossing out all hopes and prospects for a prosperous and free society in our country," Bondarev wrote, referring to the widespread use of the letter “Z” as a symbol of support for Russia's war in Ukraine.

Reached by phone, Bondarev -- a diplomatic counselor who has focused on Russia’s role in the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva after postings in places like Cambodia and Mongolia -- confirmed he handed in his resignation in a letter addressed to Ambassador Gennady Gatilov.

A spokesman for the mission didn't immediately respond to AP requests seeking comment.

(AP)

Pro-Russia authorities in captured Ukraine region introduce rouble as official currency

The new pro-Russian authorities in the Ukrainian region of Kherson have introduced the rouble as official currency alongside the Ukrainian hryvnia.

Kherson, which is close to Crimea, was the first major city to be captured by Russian forces early in March.

"The region is becoming a dual currency zone: the rouble will circulate alongside the hryvnia. Companies and entrepreneurs can display prices in both currencies," the pro-Russian civilian and military administration of the region announced on Monday. 

"The exchange rate is two rubles to one hryvnia," it continued, in a statement on its Telegram account.

The administration added that the first branch of a Russian bank would open "very soon" in Kherson, the regional capital, and that "all entrepreneurs wishing to do so" could open an account there.

In late April, a local official said rubles and hryvnias could circulate during a transitional period before a full switch to Russian currency, a possibility that was not mentioned Monday by the pro-Russian regional administration.

Local and Russian officials, however, have raised the possibility that the entire region will eventually be part of Russia.

(AFP)

Starbucks closes Russia outlets permanently

Starbucks, which temporarily closed its 130 locations in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, announced on Monday that it had decided to leave the country permanently, following in the footsteps of other multinationals such as McDonald's.

The American chain, known for its lattes and frappuccinos, opened its first café in Russia in 2007 and operated there through a partner, a Kuwaiti group, which owned and managed the licensed establishments. 

"We condemn the unprovoked, unjust and horrific attacks on Ukraine by Russia," wrote the group's then CEO Kevin Johnson in a message to employees in early March. A few days later he said that his partner had agreed to suspend all operations in the country with immediate effect.

Starbucks will continue to pay the approximately 2,000 employees working on its behalf for six months, the company said in a message on its website.

It did not specify the financial impact of this decision on its accounts. 

Major Western companies have found themselves under intense pressure after the start of the war in Ukraine and the imposition of economic sanctions to distance themselves from Moscow on ethical grounds or because of difficulties in operating the business.

After more than 30 years in Russia and nearly 850 restaurants, McDonald's announced in mid-May that it was leaving the country for good and sold its operations, but not the brand name, to a Russian businessman.

French carmaker Renault, the leader in the country with the Lada brand that it had turned around, has also sold its assets to the Russian state, while oil giant ExxonMobil has planned to withdraw from its last major project in the country, Sakhalin-1.

(AFP)

Lithuania: 'The world needs Ukrainian food'

Lithuania's foreign minister has urged EU countries to find export solutions for Ukrainian crops, and help prevent global food shortages. 

Writing on Monday, Gabrielius Landsbergis said Ukraine is a significant exporter of food items, and that Russian forces were preventing the harvest being exported from ports -- potentially causing raised prices or shortages of food. 

"The countries who consider the looming global food crisis a serious challenge — and who neither believe that Russia should have the right to cut off Ukraine nor that Russia should profit from increased prices on its own grain exports to fund the slaughter of Ukrainians — should guarantee a safe passage of ships from Odesa across the Black Sea to the Bosphorus," Landsbergis wrote. 

He says a naval presence might be required to guarantee that civilian ships carrying grain are not attacked by Russia’s Black Sea fleet, or to ensure that Russian ships do not capture Odesa port. 

In addition, Landsbergis says Ukraine should be given midrange missiles so it can "continue to defend Odesa from a Russian assault."

The Lithuanian foreign minister points out that there are other export routes from Ukraine, via road or railway through other European countries, but those come with significant logistical challenges. 

(Euronews)

UK and Lithuania sign declaration to boost defence collaboration

The United Kingdom and Lithuania agreed on greater security and economic cooperation, the UK foreign office announced.

"The UK and Lithuania are two countries which believe in freedom and sovereignty, and who stand up to authoritarian regimes in Europe and across the world. We stand together with Ukraine in the face of Russia’s illegal, barbaric war," said UK foreign secretary Liz Truss.

The declaration was signed on the 100th anniversary of their bilateral relations.

Russia is examining peace plan proposed by Italy, minister says

Russia has received a peace plan proposed by Italy and is studying it, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said on Monday, quoted by Russian agencies.

"We received it not long ago. We are studying it," he said, stressing that it was not currently under discussion between Russia and Italy.

“When we finish studying it, we will say what we think about it,” he added.

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio announced on Friday that his country had proposed to the UN the formation of an "international facilitation group" to try to reach a "step by step" ceasefire in Ukraine.

Di Maio said the group proposed by the UN "must try to rebuild the dialogue between two parties which are currently at war".

(AFP)

Ukraine war: Children hiding in basement say they just don't want to be bombed

For three months now, sisters Alina and Christina have been hiding in a basement.

Back in February their father, Yuri Albeschenko, decided their apartment in the centre of Mykolaiv, Ukraine was no longer safe. Since then they have spent most of their waking hours underground.

“I wake up and brush my teeth. Then I have breakfast. Then I sit down for lessons. After school, I have a little rest and then I have lunch. After that, we play on the street. When the siren starts or the bombing starts, we play in the basement. But it’s not as fun as playing outside," said 11-year-old Alina, a local karate champion before war broke out in her country.

Asked if she is afraid of the war, Alina immediately describes what frightens her the most: the air sirens, first, and then the subsequent rumbling of grad rockets.

Read the full story here.

Starbucks leaving Russian market, shutting 130 stores

Starbucks is pulling out of the Russian market.

In a memo to employees Monday, the coffee giant said it decided to close its 130 stores and no longer have a brand presence in Russia. Starbucks said it will continue to pay its nearly 2,000 Russian employees for six months and help them transition to new jobs.

The stores are owned and operated by Alshaya Group, a Kuwait-based franchise operator.

Seattle-based Starbucks suspended all business activity in Russia on March 8 due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

(AP)

Russian economy 'withstanding the blow' of international sanctions, but it is 'not easy', Putin says

President Vladimir Putin says the Russian economy is “withstanding the blow” of international sanctions well, even though it “is not easy.”

Putin on Monday hosted his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

“The Russian economy withstands the sanctions blow, it withstands it very worthily,” Putin said, opening the talks. “All the main macroeconomic indicators speak of this.”

At the same time, the Russian leader noted that “everything is not easy, everything that happens requires special attention and special efforts from the economic bloc of the government.”

Putin has repeatedly assured the public that Russia is coping well under the pressure, which many experts describe as unprecedented. However, the ruble has briefly lost half its value at some point, prices for food and other goods spiked and even temporary shortages of sugar, sanitary products and some medications were reported.

(AP)

Turkey's Erdogan calls on Stockholm to take 'concrete steps' to alleviate security concerns

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has objected to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, called on Stockholm on Monday to take “concrete steps” to alleviate Turkey’s security concerns, according to the Associated Press.

Turkey has so far opposed the two Nordic states' membership of the military alliance, citing their alleged support for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and other groups that Turkey views as terrorists.

“We can in no way ignore the fact that Sweden is imposing sanctions against us,” Erdogan said Monday, during a ceremony marking the docking of a submarine. “Turkey’s rightful expectations concerning (an end to the) support to terrorism and sanctions must be met.”

Erdogan made no reference to Finland, suggesting that Turkey’s grievances are aimed at Sweden, which has a large community of Kurdish exiles.

Kherson to use dual currencies starting Monday, says Russia-installed governor

A Russia-installed governor of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region says that starting Monday, the region will officially become an area with dual currency — Russian rubles and Ukrainian hryvnyas.

Vladimir Saldo also said that an office of a Russian bank will open in the region, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.

The Russian forces have took control over the Kherson region, which borders the Donetsk region to the east and Crimea to the south, early on in the war and installed a pro-Kremlin administration there. One official in this administration has announced plans to appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin to incorporate the region into Russia.

Putin has previously said that Russia doesn’t plan to occupy Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said the residents of Ukrainian regions must “determine how and with whom they want to live.”

(AP)

Russian diplomat resigns, says he's never been so ashamed of his country

Russia’s counsellor to the United Nations in Geneva, Boris Bondarev, has resigned, making him the highest ranked diplomat to do so since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In a statement released by UN Watch, a human rights organisation based in Geneva, Bondarev had harsh words to say about Russia's current leadership: 

"For twenty years of my diplomatic career I have seen different turns of our foreign policy, but never have I been so ashamed of my country as on February 24 of this year.

The aggressive war unleashed by Putin against Ukraine, and in fact against the entire Western world, is not only a crime against the Ukrainian people, but also, perhaps, the most serious crime against the people of Russia, with a bold letter Z crossing out all hopes and prospects for a prosperous free society in our country.

Those who conceived this war want only one thing — to remain in power forever, live in pompous tasteless palaces, sail on yachts comparable in tonnage and cost to the entire Russian Navy, enjoying unlimited power and complete impunity. To achieve that they are willing to sacrifice as many lives as it takes. Thousands of Russians and Ukrainians have already died just for this.

I regret to admit that over all these twenty years the level of lies and unprofessionalism in the work of the Foreign Ministry has been increasing all the time."

Lukashenko accuses Poland of wanting to seize western Ukraine

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Monday that he was concerned about what he called moves by the West to "dismember" Ukraine, and accused Poland of wanting to seize the western part of the country, according to Reuters.

During a televised meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko said that Kyiv would eventually have to ask for help in preventing the seizure of the western part of the country. 

Lukashenko offered no evidence to back up these claims.

Threat of healthcare epidemic in Mariupol, says official

A Mariupol official on Monday sounded the alarm about the growing threat of an epidemic in the ravaged port city captured by the Russians, pointing to unsanitary conditions compounded by the weather.

Mayor advisor Petro Andryushchenko said on Telegram that rain drains and sewers make rainwater spread across the city “along with rotting garbage and corpse poison.”

“The threat of an epidemic becomes a reality with each thunderstorm,” Andryushchenko wrote, adding that the Russian forces in the city “continue to ignore sanitary challenges and are only engaged arranging ‘good photos’ depicting fictional ‘life improvements’.”

The official said that Mariupol “desperately needs a new wave of evacuations.”

(AP)

Zelenskyy announces 87 deaths in military base attack

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian attack on a Ukrainian military base last week left 87 people dead. 

He made the comments via video to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. 

"Today, under the rubble in Desna, there are 87 victims. 87 corpses, victims who were killed," Zelensky said. 

The Russian strike targeted the village, which is home to a military base, about 60km north of Kyiv. 

(AFP)

Former Austrian minister quits role with Russian oil company

Former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl, who danced a waltz with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018, has left the board of Rosneft, the Russian oil giant announced Monday.

On Friday, the group had already announced the departure of former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who was strongly criticised because of his closeness to the Russian president. 

According to Rosneft, Ms Kneissl, who was appointed to the company's board of directors in March 2021 and confirmed in her position in June of the same year, submitted a letter of resignation effective last Friday.

Appointed by the far-right FPÖ party as Austria's foreign minister from December 2017 to May 2019, Kneissl invited Vladimir Putin to her wedding while her country held the rotating presidency of the European Union. 

Pictures showed the bride waltzing with the Russian president, whom she graced with a deep bow. 

In March this year, the Austrian press revealed that Putin had given Kneissl white gold earrings with sapphires, valued at 50,000 euros, apparently as a gesture of thanks for the wedding invitation.

The jewels are now in the government's reserves, which recovered them in February 2020, a foreign ministry spokeswoman told AFP at the time.

On Friday, the former minister told AFP that she had not left Rosneft as early as March to "respect" her one-year term obligations. 

"In March, I did not resign because it is not my style to leave the ship in the middle of a storm," she said. 

(Euronews / AFP)

Mayor of occupied city of Enerhodar injured in explosion

The Kremlin said on Monday that Russian soldiers would have to be alert to "terrorist attacks" after the Russian-appointed mayor of the occupied city of Enerhodar in southern Ukraine was injured in an explosion on Sunday.

"Our soldiers must be alert and take measures to prevent such terrorist attacks," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

(Reuters)

Zelenskyy calls for 'maximum sanctions' against Russia during Davos speech

In his virtual address to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed the endurance of the Ukrainian people, while also pushing for “maximum sanctions” against Russia. 

Zelenskyy called for a full oil embargo, all Russian banks to be barred from global systems, and the cutting off of international trade with the country completely.

“This is what sanctions should be: they should be maximum, so that Russia and every other potential aggressor that wants to wage a brutal war against its neighbour would clearly know the immediate consequences of their actions," Zelenskyy said.

He added that the response should be a precedent that will work for decades to come. 

In his speech, Zelenskyy also pushed for the complete withdrawal of foreign companies from Russia to prevent supporting its war and said Ukraine needs funding — at least $5 billion per month.

(Euronews / AP)

Russian soldier sentenced to life in prison for killing unarmed civilian

A court in Kyiv has sentenced a Russian soldier to life in prison for the killing of an unarmed civilian during the early days of the conflict. The case is the first war crimes trial to come out of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old tank commander, pleaded guilty to killing a 62-year-old man in a village in the northeastern Sumy region on February 28, four days into the invasion. He shot the man while travelling in a stolen car.

Shishimarin told the court that an officer had insisted that the Ukrainian man, who was speaking on his cellphone, could pinpoint their location to the Ukrainian forces.

During the trial Shishimarin asked the widow of the victim to forgive him.

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy addresses Davos conference

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos. Watch live below:

Ukraine holds off attack on Sievierodonetsk

Ukraine said on Monday it had held off the latest assault on an eastern city that has become the main target of Moscow's offensive since Russian forces finally seized Mariupol last week.

Russian forces tried to storm Sievierodonetsk, but were unsuccessful and retreated, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office said.

The city, on the banks of the Siverskiy Donets river that winds through eastern Ukraine, has been the main Russian target in recent days as Moscow tries to encircle Ukrainian forces in the east and fully capture the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces.

Meanwhile, in Mariupol, where hundreds of Ukrainian fighters finally laid down their arms last week after a nearly three-month siege, Russian mine clearing teams were combing through the ruins of the giant Azovstal steel plant.

A huge armoured bulldozer painted with a white letter "Z", which has become the symbol of Russia's assault, pushed debris to the side as a small group of soldiers picked their way through the wreckage with metal detectors.

"The task is huge. The enemy planted their own landmines, we had also planted anti-personnel mines while blocking the enemy. So we've got some two weeks of work ahead of us," said a Russian soldier, going by the nomme de guerre Babai.

(Reuters)

The World Health Organisation says it has verified 30 additional attacks on healthcare facilities in Ukraine, raising the total to 248 attacks, as of 23 May, resulting in 75 deaths and 59 injuries.

"Health care should never be a target," it said.

Davos begins with focus on sanctions

The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum kicks off today in the Swiss Alpine resort town of Davos, and attendees are already noticing a very different tone and focus to this year's event.

Biden says Russia must pay 'long-term price' for invasion of Ukraine

US President Joe Biden said on Monday that Russia "must pay a long-term price" for its "barbarism in Ukraine" in terms of sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies.

"It's not just about Ukraine," Biden said during an official trip to Japan. If the sanctions were not maintained, "then what signal would that send to China on the cost of an attempt to take Taiwan by force?” he said.

(AFP)

YouTube removes 70,000 videos for violating content guidelines related to Ukraine

YouTube has taken down more than 70,000 videos and 9,000 channels related to the war in Ukraine for violating content guidelines, including removal of videos that referred to the invasion as a “liberation mission”, reports The Guardian.

Since the conflict began in February, YouTube has taken down channels including that of the pro-Kremlin journalist Vladimir Solovyov, while channels associated with Russia’s Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs have also been temporarily suspended from uploading videos describing the war as a “liberation mission”, the British newspaper reports.

Read more here.

Germany willing to forego Hungary's participation in EU oil embargo

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck is disappointed that the EU has not yet agreed to an oil embargo targeting Russia, he said in a radio interview, adding that Germany would be willing to forego Hungary's participation to speed up the proposed ban.

"If the Commission president says we're doing this as 26 without Hungary, then that is a path that I would always support," Habeck told the Deutschlandfunk broadcaster ahead of talks with political and industrial leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

"But I have not yet heard this from the EU," he added.

Among the 27 EU member states, Hungary is the most vocal critic of the planned embargo on Russian oil. 

(Reuters)

Ukraine and Poland to establish joint border customs control

Ukraine and Poland agreed on Sunday to establish a joint border customs control and work on a shared railway company to ease the movement of people and increase Ukraine's export potential, reports the Associated Press.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Polish President Andrzej Duda touted the increased cooperation between the two countries during a meeting in Kyiv on Sunday, with Duda offering Warsaw's backing for the embattled neighbour.

Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister Oleksander Kubrakov said that the two neighbours were working on easing transport of Ukraine's goods to the European Union.

The war in Ukraine, one of the world's major exporters of wheat and corn, has caused global prices to soar.

Nearly 25 million tonnes of grains are stuck in Ukraine, unable to leave due to infrastructure challenges. Ukraine used to export most of its goods through seaports but since Russia's invasion it has been forced to export by train or via its small Danube River ports.

Zelenskyy also said that the joint customs control might help to ease the country into the EU.

"It is also the beginning of our integration into the common customs space of the European Union," he said.

Belarusian volunteers join Ukraine's foreign legion as war passes three-month mark 

Pro-democracy Belarusian dissidents are conducting war games and learning how to fire pistols and other guns in Poland, my colleague Rebekah Daunt reports. 

Poland has become a safe haven for many Belarusians looking to escape President Alexander Lukashenko's Soviet-style autocracy. Now, Belarusian fighters have answered President Zelenskyy's call for foreign fighters to join Ukraine's resistance.

Read more below:

Belarusian volunteers join Ukraine's foreign legion as the war passes the three-month mark

Russian casualties in Ukraine likely similar to USSR's nine-year Afghanistan war, says UK MinDef

In its latest Defence Intelligence update, the British Ministry of Defence has said that in the first three months of its ‘special military operation’, Russia has likely suffered a similar death toll to that experienced by the Soviet Union during its nine year war in Afghanistan.

"A combination of poor low-level tactics, limited air cover, a lack of flexibility, and a command approach which is prepared to reinforce failure and repeat mistakes has led to this high casualty rate, which continues to rise in the Donbas offensive," it said, adding:

"The Russian public has, in the past, proven sensitive to casualties suffered during wars of choice. As casualties suffered in Ukraine continue to rise they will become more apparent, and public dissatisfaction with the war and a willingness to voice it may grow."

Global refugee population tops 100m for the first time

The number of people forced to flee conflict, violence, human rights violations and persecution has crossed the staggering milestone of 100 million for the first time on record, propelled by the war in Ukraine and other deadly conflicts, the UN Refugee Agency said in a press release.

“One hundred million is a stark figure – sobering and alarming in equal measure. It’s a record that should never have been set,” said UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. “This must serve as a wake-up call to resolve and prevent destructive conflicts, end persecution, and address the underlying causes that force innocent people to flee their homes.”

According to the agency, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide rose towards 90 million by the end of 2021, propelled by new waves of violence or protracted conflict in countries including Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, Nigeria, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The war in Ukraine has displaced a further 8 million within the country this year, it said, with more than 6 million refugee movements from Ukraine having been registered.

At over 1% of the global population, the overall refugee population is equivalent to the 14th most populous country in the world.

Attention turns to Sievierodonetsk

Ukrainians are digging in to defend the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, which has come under heavy bombardment from Russian forces.

Sievierodonetsk is the main city under Ukrainian control in Luhansk province, which together with Donetsk province make up the Donbas.

Luhansk's governor, Serhii Haidai, said Sunday that the Russians were “simply intentionally trying to destroy the city ... engaging in a scorched-earth approach.”

He said the Russians had occupied several towns and cities in Luhansk after indiscriminate, 24-hour shelling. Haidai added that Moscow was concentrating forces and weaponry there, bringing in troops from Kharkiv to the northwest, Mariupol to the south, and from inside Russia.

The sole working hospital in Sievierodonetck has only three doctors and supplies for 10 days, he said.

The Ukrainian military said Russian forces had mounted an unsuccessful attack on Oleksandrivka, a village outside of the city.

(Euronews / AP)

Global economy faces perhaps its biggest test since World War II, says IMF chief

Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, warned participants at the opening of the World Economic Forum in Davos that the global economy faces perhaps its “biggest test since the Second World War”. 

Georgieva said Russia’s invasion was “devastating lives, dragging down growth and pushing up inflation”, and urged countries not to “surrender to the forces of geo-economic fragmentation that will make our world poorer and more dangerous,” reports the Financial Times. 

The speech came as Ukraine steps up its bid to give Ukrainians hope of a brighter future, with a $1 trillion (€945 billion) package of reconstruction support, financed through confiscating frozen Russian assets. 

Sacrificing any Ukrainian territory would be 'huge blow' to West, says Polish president

Air raid sirens blared across Ukraine on Monday morning, sounding the daily alarm ahead of anticipated attacks by Russian forces in the east and south of the country.

Russia has stepped up its pounding of the Donbas and Mykolaiv regions with air strikes and artillery fire, in what Ukraine has described as a "scorched-earth" strategy to win control of the eastern front.

"The war must end with the complete restoration of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty," Andriy Yermak, Ukraine's presidential chief of staff said in a Twitter post on Sunday.

Polish President Andrzej Duda offered Warsaw's backing, telling lawmakers in Kyiv on Sunday that the international community had to demand Russia's complete withdrawal and that sacrificing any territory would be a "huge blow" to the entire West.

"Worrying voices have appeared, saying that Ukraine should give in to Putin's demands," Duda said, the first foreign leader to address the Ukrainian parliament in person since Russia's Feb. 24 invasion.

"Only Ukraine has the right to decide about its future."

(Reuters)