World faces a turning point, warns Zelensky
Agencies
DAVOS/KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told global business leaders meeting at Davos on Monday that the world faces a turning point and has to ratchet up sanctions against Russia as a warning to other countries considering using brute force.
“History is at a turning point... This is really the moment when it is decided whether brute force will rule the world,” Zelensky, sporting his trademark olive green T-shirt, said in an address via video link.
His speech kicked off in earnest the four-day World Economic Forum that gathers some 2,000 business and economic leaders as well as experts, with Ukraine topping the agenda.
Ukraine reveals 87 killed in strike on barracks
Kyiv revealed its worst military losses from a single attack of the Ukraine war on Monday, saying 87 people had been killed last week when Russian forces struck a barracks housing troops at a training base in the north.
The disclosure that scores had been killed in the attack demonstrated Russia’s ability to inflict huge losses, even far from the front. Previously, Kyiv had said eight people died in the May 17 strike on the barracks in the town of Desna.
20 countries commit new security aid for Ukraine
US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said that some 20 countries had announced new security assistance packages for Ukraine during a virtual meeting with allies on Monday that was aimed at coordinating arms for Kyiv.
The countries that announced new packages included Italy, Denmark, Greece, Norway and Poland, Austin told reporters following a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group. Denmark would provide a harpoon launcher and missiles to defend Ukraine’s coast, Austin said.
“Everyone here understands the stakes of this war.”
13,000 alleged Russian war crimes being probed
Ukraine prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova said there were about 13,000 cases of Russian alleged war crimes being probed as of Monday.
“As of this day, we have more than 13,000 cases (being probed) only about war crimes,” Venediktova said in an interview to the Washington Post.
Russian diplomat in Switzerland resigns
A Russian diplomat at the country’s permanent mission at the United Nations in Geneva said on Monday he was leaving his post because of his disagreement with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, a rare political resignation over the war.
Boris Bondarev, a who identified himself on Linkedin as a counsellor at Russia’s permanent mission to the UN who worked on arms control, told Reuters: “I went to the mission like any other Monday morning and I forwarded my resignation letter and I walked out.”