Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the first batch of US-made M1 Abrams tanks is “already in Ukraine.” The tanks will “strengthen our actions against the occupiers.” And it will be a significant reinforcement,” he said in his evening address on Monday.
President Biden committed to deploying 31 of the advanced battle tanks in January. U.S. military officials said the deliveries would be gradual, but they expected them all to arrive in the coming weeks.
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So far, less than half of the total number of expected M1 Abrams tanks have arrived. a senior Ukrainian military official said on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military preparations.
Some Ukrainian citizens were tortured to death under Russian occupation, A UN body announced this on Monday. “In some cases torture was carried out with such brutality that the victims died,” Erik Mose, chairman of the Commission of Inquiry into Ukraine, told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva as his team presented the latest findings. Mose, a Norwegian judge with experience in international human rights, also said that Russian soldiers in Kherson “raped women aged 19 to 83 and committed sexual violence against them,” with family members often held nearby to listen to the abuses. Russia has not responded to the commission’s communications requests, Mose added.
A town near the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson came under fire overnightsaid regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin early Tuesday. At least four people were injured.
Russian forces shot down two Ukrainian drones in the Kursk region late Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said, in what it described as Kiev’s attempt to carry out a “terrorist attack.” The drones were shot down around 11 p.m. local time, it said.
Zelensky said Ukraine would retaliate against Russian attacks after a strike on Monday in Odessa that left at least two people dead. Ukraine will retaliate “for any attack against our cities and villages, against any Ukrainian community.” For Odessa, for Beryslav and Kherson, for the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Sumy regions,” he said in his evening speech.
The Canadian speaker of the House of Commons apologized after praising a 98-year-old Ukrainian man who served in a notorious Nazi military unit during World War II. Speaker Anthony Rota introduced Yaroslav Hunka following Zelensky’s address to parliament on Friday, calling him a “Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero.” Jewish groups condemned the honor. Zelensky has relatives who were killed in the Holocaust.
The Russian Interior Ministry has put the President of the International Criminal Court on its wanted list On Monday. The ministry has not publicly detailed the charges against Piotr Hofmanski, the Polish lawyer who was elected president of the court in 2021. The ICC had previously issued an arrest warrant against Putin, accusing him of illegally deporting children from Ukraine.
Russia attacks Odessa port, latest attack on Ukrainian grain: A Russian attack on Odessa was the latest attack on Ukraine’s vital agricultural sector as Moscow seeks to exploit divisions between Kiev and its European neighbors over grain exports, Alex Horton and Kamila Hrabchuk report. The strike killed at least two people, destroyed grain elevators and damaged port facilities.
The attack comes as Russian interference with Ukraine’s use of the Black Sea as a food export highway has forced Kiev to explore overland routes but as Ukraine faces resistance from some of its closest neighbors. Officials in Poland, Hungary and Slovakia fear relatively cheap Ukrainian grain would flood their markets, depressing prices and hurting local farmers.