Ukraine

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the recent sanctions imposed on Russia, but underlined that they were insufficient. He called on Western democracies to boycott Russian oil, insisting that the failure of a rapid agreement on an embargo would result in the loss of many lives among Ukrainians. The US has imposed new sanctions on two of Russia’s largest banks, as well as on Vladimir Putin’s two adult daughters, on Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, on the wife and children of the FM Sergei Lavrov, on members of the Security Council of Russia, including Dimitri Medvedev, a former president and prime minister. On the other hand, the Ukrainian police found new bodies of people shot in Hostomel, near Kyiv, a town recently liberated from the occupation of Russian troops. According to the locals, they were killed by snipers. The Ukrainian military record war crimes cases in every city or town where the Russian soldiers were present. According to the Ukrainian officials, more than 1,200 lawsuits have been opened in the Kyiv region over war crimes committed by the occupiers. The Polish President Andrzej Duda described the Russian military’s actions in Ukraine as „genocide” and called on the West to strengthen sanctions against Moscow. On the ground, according to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Russian occupiers are preparing an offensive operation in the east of the country to establish full control over the territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Pentagon confirms that the Russian troops have completely withdrawn from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and Cernihiv.

Eugen Cojocariu, Radio România Internațional