Ukraine: Russian invasion hits 1,000-day milestone

After 1,000 days of fighting in Ukraine, President Zelenskyy called on the EU to pressure Russia toward a just peace. Russian President Putin lowered his country's threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.

UK sanctions Russian officials for indoctrination of Ukrainian children

The UK has imposed sanctions on 10 individuals and entities behind Russia's "forcible deportation and attempted indoctrination of Ukrainian children."

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the sanctions are aimed at those supporting this "insidious program."

"No child should ever be used as a pawn in war, yet President Putin's targeting of Ukrainian children shows the depths he will go to in his mission to erase Ukraine and its people from the map," Lammy said.

The measures are part of ongoing efforts by Britain and its Western allies to weaken Russia’s economy and war funding.  The UK estimates that nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia or Russian-occupied territories with the goal of eroding their Ukrainian identity and promoting pro-Russian sentiment.

The sanctions target the All-Russian Young Army Military Patriotic Social Movement (Yunarmia), a Russian paramilitary organization central to Putin's attempts to forcibly deport and indoctrinate Ukraine's younger generation, the statement added.

Among those sanctioned by Britain on Tuesday was Tetiana Zavalska, the Russian-appointed director of the Kherson Children's Home, from which London says 46 children were forcibly removed to Russia for adoption. All of those sanctioned face travel bans and asset freezes in Britain.

Baerbock urges strengthening NATO's European pillar

The European element of the NATO defense alliance must be further strengthened, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said after talks with her counterparts from Poland, France, Italy, Spain and Britain.

"We agree that in order to protect our security and safeguard our deterrent capabilities, we must further strengthen the European pillar in NATO," Baerbock told reporters, adding that they plan to invest more than 2% of gross domestic product in security.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom said in a joint statement that Russia's systematic attacks on Europe's security architecture are "unprecedented in their variety and scale." 

"Moscow's escalating hybrid activities against NATO and EU countries are unprecedented in their variety and scale, creating significant security risk," the ministers said, reaffirming the enduring role of a strong and united NATO. 

Russia says seized new village in Ukraine's Donetsk region

Russia said its forces had captured a new village in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region near the strategic town of Kurakhove after months of steady advances.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its troops captured the settlement of Novoselydivka, north of the key hub of Kurakhove.

Moscow's army is now advancing rapidly in the Donetsk region, closing in on the industrial town of Kurakhove, which had a pre-war population of about 10,000. 

Russian troops now control territory to the north, east and south of Kurakhove, which sits on the banks of a reservoir. 

Pistorius says German position on Taurus unchanged by new US policy

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has backed Chancellor Olaf Scholz in his continued refusal to send German-made Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. 

The position of the German government as a whole has not changed, Pistorius said in Brussels, where he is attending a meeting of EU defense ministers. 

At the same time, Pistorius said the reported decision by US President Joe Biden to allow Ukraine to use longer-range ATACMS missiles to attack targets on Russian territory was legitimate. 

"With Taurus, we are talking about a system that is still very different from all the others used in Ukraine," Pistorius said.

Pistorius also defended Scholz's decision to speak with Putin in an hour-long phone call and added that the call provided further evidence Putin has little interest in negotiating with the West over Ukraine or other issues.

"I think it was not as effective as all of us would have hoped, because Putin reacted more or less at once in between 48 hours with his serious attacks, severe attacks on Ukraine infrastructure. But still, it is important to talk whenever it is possible to talk," Pistorius said.

Pistorius said he is "concerned" about how Ukraine can strengthen its position with Western support so that Putin sees the need and the understanding to negotiate. "At the moment, this is not apparent," the defense minister added.

Source: DW