Ukraine Russia war updates: Zelensky slams Olympics chief as ‘nearly 67,000 Russian war crimes recorded’

Volodymyr Zelensky lashed out at the head of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, for allowing Russia to participate in the Games.

“Olympic principles and war fundamentally contradict each other,” Zelenskiy said in his overnight address, criticizing the Olympic Committee’s apparent neutral stance.

“The statements of the current president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, cannot but disappoint. I spoke to him several times. And I have never heard how he is going to protect sports from military propaganda if he returns Russian athletes to international competitions, ”he added.

Zelensky also said that his administration would do “everything to ensure that the world shields sport from the political or any other influence of a terrorist state, which is simply inevitable if Russian athletes compete.” And especially at the Paris Olympics.”

“I don’t want to go into what exactly prompted Mr. Bach to promote such an initiative,” Zelensky said.

Ukrainian athletes were forced to defend their loved ones from Russian aggression, he continued. “Russian strikes have claimed the lives of hundreds of Ukrainian men and women who could have brought their talents to world sport,” he said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine over the weekend remains critical.

“The situation at the front, and in particular in the Donetsk region near Bakhmut and Vuhledar, remains extremely acute. The occupiers are not just storming our positions – they are purposefully and methodically destroying the cities and villages surrounding them. Artillery, aircraft, missiles,” Zelensky said in his nightly address.

He added: “The Russian army has no shortage of weapons. And the only way to stop it is by force. Our soldiers who defend the areas of the Donetsk region are real heroes.”

More than 66,500 Russian war crimes and crimes of aggression have been recorded in Ukraine, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the war-affected country said on Saturday.

The Russian military has committed 66,743 war crimes and crimes of aggression in Ukraine since invading the country last February and starting full-scale war.

According to law enforcement agencies of Ukraine, since February 24, at least 459 children and at least 917 wounded.

After months of begging and international pressure, Germany and the United States agreed to supply tanks to Ukraine, a move hailed by a senior aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky as “a veritable punching fist of democracy” against the Russian invasion.

While their current numbers are unlikely to change the course of the war, the three or so battalions mark a shift in gear in NATO support for Kyiv, as evidenced by Kremlin accusations of direct Western interference and a renewed barrage of nuclear threats from Vladimir Putin. circle.

The tanks themselves, including the Leopard 2, M1 Abrams, and Challenger 2 designs, are generally considered to be more powerful than most Soviet and Russian vehicles, which, to the surprise of those who thought the tanks were practically extinct, are still out of use. played a central role in the largest ground war in Europe in decades.

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Ukraine and its Western allies are in “fast-track” talks over the supply of long-range missiles and military aircraft, a senior aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

Mykhailo Podolyak said that Ukraine’s allies “understand how the war is developing” and the need to provide aircraft capable of providing tank cover, which was promised this week.

He continued: “We must speak sensibly and tell them [allies], for example, “This and this will reduce the number of fatalities, this will reduce the load on the infrastructure. This will reduce security threats on the European continent, this will allow the war to be localized.”

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Ukraine is in fast-track talks with its allies to secure long-range missiles to keep Russia from bombing its cities, according to presidential adviser Volodymyr Zelensky.

“In order to drastically reduce the key weapon of the Russian army — the artillery they use on the front lines today — we need missiles that will destroy their depots,” said presidential adviser Mikhail Podolyak.

He added that there are more than 100 artillery depots on the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.

“Therefore, firstly, negotiations are already underway. Secondly, negotiations are proceeding at an accelerated pace,” the chief aide said, without going into details.

Ukraine has imposed sanctions against 182 Russian and Belarusian companies and three individuals, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday.

“Their assets in Ukraine are blocked, their property will be used to protect us,” Zelensky said in a video message, blocking Moscow and Minsk’s ties to Ukraine.

The sanctioned firms are mainly involved in cargo transportation, car leasing and chemical production, according to a list published by the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

It also includes the Russian potash producer and exporter Uralkali, the Belarusian state-owned potash producer Belaruskali, the Belarusian Railways, and the Russian VTB-Leasing and Gazprombank Leasing transport leasing companies.

The latest sanctions have increased the total list of leaders and companies that have been sanctioned since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.

Russia plans to switch its occupied regions of Ukraine to Moscow time (MSK), the industry ministry said in a statement.

In a statement to Telegram, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced that it had amended the federal law on Russia’s time zones.

Four of its occupied territories are listed: Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporozhye, which will switch to Moscow time (an hour ahead) if the law is ratified.

On September 23-27 last year, Russia organized referendums in four regions to join Russia in a voting process that was declared invalid and illegal by international bodies.

In October, the UN General Assembly passed a new resolution condemning the votes held and demanding that Russia change course regarding its “attempted illegal annexation” of the regions.

Russia currently has three Kalibr cruise missile carriers in the Black Sea with 20 missiles, according to a Ukrainian official.

A spokesman for the Odessa Regional Military Administration, Sergei Bratchuk, said in a Telegram message that the threat of rocket attacks is high.

Bratchuk added that 16 Russian warships are currently operating in the Black Sea.

Odessa is the third largest city in Ukraine, located in the south of the country on the Black Sea coast. Russian cruise missiles have already hit the city last year.

Cruise missiles “Caliber” were one of the main means used by Russian troops to strike at the civilian infrastructure and settlements of Ukraine.

A major missile attack on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure on January 14 this year was carried out by Kalibr missiles fired from ships in the Black Sea.

U.S. auditors will visit Ukraine next week to make sure aid and weapons are not diverted, Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said.

Representatives will be joined by World Bank officials and Deloitte consultants as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues his fight against political corruption.

Nuland told a congressional committee that the US will continue to “support the necessary reforms and anti-corruption measures being taken by the Ukrainian government across the country.”

However, recent corruption scandals in Ukraine did not seem to involve humanitarian aid delivered to Ukraine, a State Department spokesman said.

A food procurement scandal at the Ukrainian Defense Ministry led to the resignation of Deputy Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov earlier this week.

President Zelenskiy has reshuffled his team in what was the biggest leadership change since the Russian invasion last February.