The essentials in brief:
- Ukraine sees partial successes near Bahmut
- Pistorius travels to Poland
- New center for prosecution of Russian aggression
In view of the ongoing counter-offensive, Ukraine has spoken of heavy fighting on several front areas, especially in the east. Russian troops attacked at Avdiivka, Mariinka and Lyman in Donetsk region, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar wrote on Telegram. The occupiers also advanced further near Swatowe in the adjacent Luhansk region. “Fierce fighting is raging there. (…) The situation is quite complicated.” Not far from Bakhmut, on the other hand, the Ukrainian army is advancing and has had “partial successes,” she added.
Advance “gradually”.
In the south of Ukraine, too, their own troops were advancing in the direction of the cities of Berdyansk and Melitopol “in heavy fighting, but gradually,” Maljar wrote. She spoke of “violent enemy resistance”.
Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine more than 16 months ago and currently occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory. Kiev now also wants to liberate the occupied areas with Western military aid.
Pistorius travels to Poland
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius visits the Patriot contingent of the Bundeswehr in south-eastern Poland in Poland on Monday. Pistorius will first visit the barracks in the city of Zamosc, where the men and women of the Bundeswehr are housed. There he also met his Polish counterpart Mariusz Blaszczak. Pistorius then visits the firing positions of the Patriot anti-aircraft systems outside the city.
Around 320 members of the Bundeswehr have been deployed in Zamosc since the end of January. They operate a total of three Patriot systems at two locations. Zamosc is not far from Poland’s border with Ukraine, which has been defending itself against a Russian invasion for the past 16 months. The Patriot systems are designed to protect Poland’s airspace.
There had been political bickering between Berlin and Warsaw over their stationing. The then Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) had agreed with her Polish colleague Mariusz Blaszczak to transfer German patriots to Poland. But then Blaszczak suggested that Germany should better station the Patriots in Ukraine. This caused considerable irritation in Berlin. Finally, however, an agreement was reached.
Justice joins forces in The Hague
An international center for prosecution of crimes of aggression against Ukraine will be established in The Hague on Monday. It brings together prosecutors from Ukraine, the EU, the US and the International Criminal Court (ICC) and aims to prepare the analysis of evidence against Russia for prosecution. The center is based at the European judicial authority Eurojust.
The ICC is actually responsible for prosecuting the most serious crimes under international law, such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. However, Ukraine and its allies also want to hold Russia accountable for the crime of “aggression”. It is about the planning, preparation and execution of the attack on Ukraine. Although the Hague Criminal Court has theoretically been able to take action here since 2018, Russia does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC.
haz/AL (dpa, afp, rtr)
Source: DW
