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Ukrainian leader Zelensky

Photo: IMAGO/Ukraine Presidency/Ukrainian Pre / IMAGO/ZUMA Wire

These days are difficult for Ukraine: winter time is approaching. The army's own leadership has admitted that there will probably be no more "profound and beautiful breakthroughs" at the front. The war in Israel has dwarfed the war in Ukraine. And the domestic political situation in the United States raises the question of whether and for how long Washington will still be able to support Kiev in its current form. Just recently, a cover story in Time magazine shed light on this problem: The text describes President Volodimyr Zelensky during a trip to the United States, for example, as a tenacious, lonely, but increasingly disappointed and annoyed fighter for the Ukrainian cause.

And Ukraine still does not have enough military equipment to establish parity with Russia. Zelensky, for example, complains about deficits in his country's air defense, and the continued air supremacy of the Russian armed forces is also a problem. "Russia controls the skies," he said in an interview with the US broadcaster NBC on Sunday. "We need better air defense," Zelensky added. "Give us the means to compete with Russia in the sky," he indirectly renewed his call for Western-made fighter jets. In addition, Ukraine still needs drones and weapons to defend against drones.

Currently not ready to negotiate

As soon as some kind of balance is established in the sky, the Ukrainian ground forces can advance. "We can't just attack like the Russian armed forces," the Ukrainian president said, referring to Russia's tactic of throwing soldiers into battle regardless of its own losses. "We need our soldiers."

Zelensky reiterated his position that there can be no negotiations with Russia at the moment. "There is no dialogue with terrorists," he stressed. "Their word is worth nothing, they only want to destroy and kill." Ukraine will continue its fight against the troops of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. "We are not ready to give our freedom to the damned terrorist Putin."

A momentous attack

At the front, meanwhile, there was apparently a momentous Russian attack. During a ceremony in the frontline area, numerous Ukrainian soldiers were killed by Russian shelling, according to official statements. The soldiers were taking part in an artillery day ceremony in the Zaporizhzhia region when Russian shells landed there. The Internet portal »Ukrainska Pravda« reported more than 20 dead. Authorities in the soldiers' home region in the Transcarpathian region began a three-day mourning period on Sunday.

Zelensky expressed his condolences to the relatives of the soldiers of the 128th Mountain Infantry Brigade in his nightly video address. "This is a tragedy that could have been avoided," he said. In the meantime, a criminal investigation has been launched, the investigations are still ongoing. "The most important thing is to find out the full truth about the incident and prevent it from happening again."

The head of the Transcarpathian military administration, Viktor Mykyta, said on Sunday that the "brothers" had been tragically killed. In the coming days, national flags were to be lowered to half-mast and minutes of silence were to be observed in the morning. On social networks, there was sharp criticism of the military leadership for allowing such a ceremony in the frontline area at all. Those responsible must be punished, Ukrainians demanded in comment columns. According to reports, the authorities and the minister had only confirmed the incident after the information had circulated for a long time on social networks and eventually in the media.

beb/dpa