According to reports, Russia and the US are discussing talks about strategic nuclear weapons. This is the first time that the US has held such discussions since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Talks between the countries regarding strategic stability have been frozen after Vladimir Putin‘s forces invaded Ukraine eight month ago. However, the New Start Treaty on nuclear arms reduction remains in force.
Kommersant, a Russian newspaper, said that the talks could take place in the Middle East. It also stated that Moscow doesn’t view Switzerland as neutral since it placed sanctions against Russia over Ukraine.
In the meantime, Ukraine accuses Russia of looting homes in Kherson’s southern city. They also claim that they occupied these homes with civilian troops to prepare for street fighting.
According to the Ukrainian military, Russian forces “disguised as civilian clothes” occupy civilian buildings and reinforce positions inside for street battles.
According to Monday’s update, Russian forces are “involved with looting and stealing from residents and infrastructure sites and are taking equipment, food, and vehicles to Russia”.
In anticipation of a Ukrainian invasion to capture it, Russia has been ordering civilians from Kherson in the last few days.
According to both sides, it comes after the city with a population of around 300,000 has been left cold and darkened by a 48-hour-old power and water cut.
Russian officials claimed that Ukrainian “sabotage” caused the power cut, while Ukrainian officials stated that 1.5km of power lines were dismantled by the Russians.
According to Ukraine’s military, around 100 children with disabilities were transferred from Dnipriany, in the Kherson region, to the Moscow area.
It said that patients from an elderly home in Kakhovka were being relocated as Russian forces take over these facilities.
Four Russian air strikes were conducted in the area of the Ukrainian forces surrounding Nova Kamyanka, a village recently liberated in the Kherson region.
The main focus of Ukraine’s counter-offensive against the south has been to capture Kherson, which has been increasing since October.
Other important developments:
According to the defense minister of Ukraine, Ukraine received their first deliveries of Apside and NASAMS air defense systems.
* North Korea denies arms deals with Russia, after the US stated that it appears to be supplying Russia with artillery shells
* Putin claimed that 50,000 Russian soldiers were fighting in Ukraine with combat units, according to Interfax news agency.
* Russia’s defense ministry denied allegations that a naval infantry regimen had suffered catastrophic losses of personnel and equipment during a futile offensive against eastern Ukraine.
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president, stated Monday that Donetsk in the east remains the “epicentre”, where fighting continues. This is causing hundreds of Russians to be killed each day.
Bakhmut and Avdiivka, both in the Donetsk area, are believed to be the hardest hit.
On Monday night, Mr Zelenskyy stated that Russia should be forced into “genuine peace negotiations”.
Russia has suffered major setbacks in both the east and the south in recent months and lost all territories in northern Ukraine within the first weeks following the February invasion.
Putin responded by calling up hundreds and thousands of reservists, and annoucing the annexe of occupied lands.
