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“Powerful boost for Ukrainian motivation”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has strongly called for the start of EU accession negotiations as motivation for his country in the fight against Russian aggression. “Motivation is also a weapon. And it must be loaded,” Zelenskyj said in his video message distributed in Kiev on Tuesday evening. “We expect this strong impetus from Ukrainian motivation: the willingness on the part of the EU to start negotiations with Ukraine.” A political decision is needed so that negotiations can start at the end of this year.

Civilians and soldiers at war also need this prospect of EU membership. “Step by step we are moving towards a historic milestone in our relationship with Europe,” Zelensky said. On Tuesday he was also linked by video to a meeting of the European Commission chaired by President Ursula von der Leyen. Zelensky emphasized that despite the war, Ukraine has taken on a number of tasks, such as the fight against corruption, as a condition for starting negotiations.

There are important legal innovations and the necessary steps to build institutions. Zelensky said he hoped the EU would see this and kick off negotiations. In his evening video address, he once again thanked Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), who had promised long-term support for reconstruction at the 6th German-Ukrainian Economic Forum in Berlin on Tuesday.

In his video address, Zelensky also addressed residents of Crimea’s Black Sea peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014 in violation of international law, and citizens in other Moscow-controlled areas in eastern and southern Ukraine. “You all have the feeling that the Russian presence in our country will not last long. I know that,” he said. Ukraine will retake its territory and the people there. ‘We leave no one behind. We will use all possible means to ensure that this war ends with the defeat of the occupiers.”

The Ukrainian president also emphasized on Tuesday in a video address at a Crimean Platform conference: “Russia’s defeat means security for Europe.” He said at the meeting of Ukrainian supporters in Prague that Crimea also had to be reconquered to liberate the population there from Russian oppression. Nearly a decade after the annexation of Crimea, pro-Ukrainian currents on the peninsula are now growing stronger, Zelensky said. Nuclear power Russia has repeatedly emphasized that it will defend Crimea with all available means.

Only about a thousand civilians still live in the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka

Meanwhile, Russia continued its war unabated. According to Kiev, there are still about 1,000 civilians in the heavily disputed eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka. There are no more children among them, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on local news television on Tuesday. She called on those left to seek safety. Before the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the now heavily destroyed industrial city in the Donetsk region still had more than 30,000 inhabitants.

In recent days, Russian troops have advanced mainly north of Avdiivka towards a railway line. According to consistent reports, a disputed waste dump near the city’s coking plant now appears to be under Russian control.

Ukrainian units still maintain a communications corridor about ten kilometers wide. The supply routes from Ukrainian-controlled territory are constantly under fire.

Ukraine has been defending itself against the Russian invasion for more than twenty months. The front line against Moscow-backed separatists has been near Avdiivka since 2014. The Russian-controlled regional capital Donetsk is located just a few kilometers south of Avdiivka.

What will be important on Wednesday

The Ukrainian armed forces, with Western military support, continue their offensive to liberate the Russian-occupied territories. Kiev’s goal is to return the Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk and Luhansk regions under full Ukrainian control and also to retake Crimea. (sda/dpa)