Zelenskiy warns that Russia’s neighbours are ‘under threat’ if Ukraine does not win war
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, addressed Danish parliament in Copenhagen this morning, thanking Danish politicians for helping his country resist Russia’s invasion, a day after Denmark and the Netherlands announced they would provide Kyiv with American-made F-16 fighter jets.
He warned that if Russia succeeded in the war then other parts of Europe would be at risk from the Kremlin’s military aggression.
Zelenskiy said:
All of Russia’s neighbours are under threat if Ukraine does not prevail.
International law will not be resuscitated, democracies of the world, each of them can become a target – either for missiles, or for mercenaries, or for destabilisation, and I am sure you can fill it.
But Ukraine will prevail. Thank you for all the help provided to Ukraine.
Key events
An Iranian military delegation has arrived in Moscow to discuss cooperation between Iranian and Russian ground forces, state news agency Tass reported on Monday, citing Russia’s defence ministry.
Russia and Iran, both under western economic sanctions, have forged closer relations in military and other areas since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine.
The west has accused Iran of selling large numbers of drones for use against Ukraine, a charge Tehran denies.
Summary of the day so far…
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Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked Danish politicians on Monday for helping his country resist Russia’s invasion. Ukraine’s president said that if Russia succeeded, other parts of Europe would be at risk from the Kremlin’s military aggression. “All of Russia’s neighbours are under threat if Ukraine does not prevail,” he said in a speech in Copenhagen.
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Denmark’s decision to supply Ukraine with American F-16 fighter jets to fend off Russia’s invasion represents an “escalation” of the conflict, Russia’s ambassador to Denmark warned on Monday. “By hiding behind a premise that Ukraine itself must determine the conditions for peace, Denmark seeks with its actions and words to leave Ukraine with no other choice but to continue the military confrontation with Russia,” Vladimir Barbin reportedly said.
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At least two people were injured on Monday when parts of a Ukrainian drone destroyed by Russian air defences fell on a house in the Moscow region, the regional governor said.
Nearly 50 plane flights in and out of the capital were disrupted after Russia said it jammed a Ukrainian drone in the Ruzsky district, west of the capital, and destroyed another in the Istrinsky district nearby, Reuters reports. -
Ukraine’s forces are repelling Russian attacks and have retaken several square kilometres on the eastern front over the past week, a deputy defence minister said on Monday. Hanna Maliar also said that Ukrainian forces were advancing south of Bakhmut, the city occupied by Russian forces in May after a bloody months-long struggle, and had liberated another three square kilometres over the past week.
Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has urged his supporters to oust Kremlin-backed candidates in next month’s regional polls, calling on voters to adopt new “smart voting” tactics, AFP reports.
Smart Voting was a strategy devised by the opposition in previous elections to galvanise and coordinate support behind candidates not from the ruling party.
The mayor of Moscow and various regional governors will be up for election in September, in a contest seen by the opposition as largely rigged in favour of the ruling United Russia party.
“I believe that in the current situation, we need to take a step back and return to the strategy of voting for any candidate except for United Russia,” Navalny said in a blog post on Monday.
Navalny, who recently had his jail term extended, said he expected high levels of fraud in the upcoming elections, adding that the Moscow mayoral elections had “no meaning” at all.
The German government plans to water down rules for how a €100bn special fund originally set up to finance major military purchases can be spent, several sources told Reuters on Monday.
Berlin aims to change the law so the money can also be used to pay for maintenance, which is seen as a running cost, and infrastructure, as long as it is connected with military purchases, the sources said.
The fund was established in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to finance major defence projects, such as the purchase of new fighter jets to bring the military back up to standard after decades of neglect.
In a post on the Telegram messaging app, Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy defence minister, said Ukrainian troops have had “success” south-east of the village of Robotyne and south of Mala Tokmachka in the south-east region of Zaporizhzhia, but gave no details.
She said Russian troops had tried unsuccessfully to take back lost positions east of Robotyne, Reuters reports.
“We should not underestimate the enemy,” Maliar said. “We should all be patient and support our armed forces.”
Zelenskiy warns that Russia’s neighbours are ‘under threat’ if Ukraine does not win war
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, addressed Danish parliament in Copenhagen this morning, thanking Danish politicians for helping his country resist Russia’s invasion, a day after Denmark and the Netherlands announced they would provide Kyiv with American-made F-16 fighter jets.
He warned that if Russia succeeded in the war then other parts of Europe would be at risk from the Kremlin’s military aggression.
Zelenskiy said:
All of Russia’s neighbours are under threat if Ukraine does not prevail.
International law will not be resuscitated, democracies of the world, each of them can become a target – either for missiles, or for mercenaries, or for destabilisation, and I am sure you can fill it.
But Ukraine will prevail. Thank you for all the help provided to Ukraine.
As of 21 August 2023, at least 503 children have been killed, and 1,115 injured by Russia since it started the full-scale war against Ukraine last year, Ukraine’s ministry of foreign affairs tweeted on Monday. This figure has not yet been independently verified.
Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, said on Monday that Sweden needs Gripen planes for its own defence, noting that the country’s bid to join Nato has not been finalised.
“We don’t rule anything out in the future,” he told the TV4 channel.
“We will do everything we can to support them also with aircraft. But right now there are no new commitments to provide Swedish aircraft to Ukraine.”
Volodymyr Zelenskiy started his trip on Saturday in Sweden, where he asked Kristersson for Swedish Gripen fighter jets.
Sweden has said it will allow Ukrainian pilots to test the planes but has not made any commitments to hand them over.
Russian attacks against Ukraine killed three civilians and injured 24 people over the past 24 hours, regional authorities said on Monday.
Nine Ukrainian oblasts were targeted during this period: Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, with casualties reported in the last four regions, the Kyiv Independent reports.
These figures are yet to be independently verified.
Russia warns F-16 fighter jet donations will escalate war with Ukraine
Russia has condemned a decision by Denmark and the Netherlands to donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, saying the move would escalate the war.
Denmark and the Netherlands on Sunday announced they would supply F-16s to Ukraine, with the first six due to be delivered around new year.
In a statement cited by the Ritzau news agency, Vladimir Barbin, the Russian ambassador to Denmark, said:
The fact that Denmark has now decided to donate 19 F-16 aircraft to Ukraine leads to an escalation of the conflict.
By hiding behind a premise that Ukraine itself must determine the conditions for peace, Denmark seeks with its actions and words to leave Ukraine with no other choice but to continue the military confrontation with Russia.
Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, Denmark’s defence minister, said Ukraine may only use the donated F-16s within its own territory, Reuters reports.
“We donate weapons under the condition that they are used to drive the enemy out of the territory of Ukraine. And no further than that,” Ellemann-Jensen said on Monday.
“Those are the conditions, whether it’s tanks, fighter planes or something else,” he added.
Denmark will deliver 19 jets in total; the Netherlands has 42 F-16s available in all, but has yet to decide whether all of them will be donated.
You can read more about the decisions surrounding the F-16 fighter jet donations here:
Volodymyr Zelenskiy thanked Danish politicians on Monday for helping his country resist Russia’s invasion, a day after Denmark and the Netherlands announced they would provide Kyiv with American-made F-16 fighter jets.
Ukraine’s president said that if Russia’s invasion was successful, other parts of Europe would be at risk from the Kremlin’s military aggression.
“All of Russia’s neighbours are under threat if Ukraine does not prevail,” he said in a speech in Copenhagen.
