War culmination in the coming weeks? Ukrainian "Baryaktar" destroyed; Macron in Kyiv?

War culmination in the coming weeks? Ukrainian "Baryaktar" destroyed; Macron in Kyiv?

Last night, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, stated in a video address that Russian forces could use chemical weapons in Ukraine, but he did not specified whether chemical weapons have already been used.

British intelligence predicts an escalation of hostilities in Donbas in the next 2-3 weeks.

French President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday that he is ready to travel to Kyiv or any other city in Ukraine only if he believes that his visit will help in the current crisis.

Nearly two-thirds of Ukrainian children have left their homes since the start of the war in Ukraine, and the United Nations has determined that 142 children have died since then, although that number is certainly much higher, UNICEF pointed out.

Ministry of Defense showed how the Ukrainian Bayraktar was destroyed off the west coast of Crimea

The unmanned aircraft performed reconnaissance of the actions of the ships of the Black Sea Fleet, as well as the coastal and land positions of the military equipment of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. It was hit by projectiles from multi-channel ship anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) of medium range "Stil-1".

Mayor of Mariupol: More than 10.000 civilians were killed in the siege

The mayor of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol said that more than 10.000 civilians died in the Russian siege of the city and that the number of dead could exceed 20.000. In a telephone conversation with the AP, Mayor Vadim Boychenko said on Monday that Russian forces had blocked the entry of humanitarian convoys into the city for weeks in an attempt to cover up the horrors of the outside world.

Mariupol was cut off in Russian attacks shortly after the start of the Russian operation in Ukraine and suffered some of the most severe attacks in the war. The mayor spoke from a place in the territory controlled by Ukraine, but outside Mariupol. The discovery of a large number of civilians who appear to have been executed after the withdrawal of Russian forces from cities around the capital Kyiv this month has sparked general condemnation and accusations by Ukrainians and the West that Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine.

Separately, U.S. officials pointed out yesterday that there are new signs that the Russian army is preparing for a major offensive in the eastern region of Donbas, reinforcing after the failed initial breakthrough around Kyiv and efforts to seize it.

UNICEF: Almost two thirds of Ukrainian children have left their homes

Nearly two-thirds of Ukrainian children have left their homes since the start of the war in Ukraine, and the United Nations has determined that 142 children have died since then, although that number is certainly much higher, UNICEF said.

Manuel Fontaine, UNICEF\'s director of emergency programs, who has just returned from Ukraine, said that in 31 years of his humanitarian work, he had not seen so many children displaced so quickly.

"They were forced to leave everything behind - their homes, schools, and often members of their families," Fontaine said in an address to the UN Security Council, noting that 4.8 out of a total of 7.5 million Ukrainian children have been displaced.

He specified that 2.8 million children were displaced within the territory of Ukraine, and two million are refugees in other countries, the AP reported.

Fontaine warned that almost half of the 3.2 million children in Ukraine are endangered by the lack of food, and that the worst situation is in the besieged city of Mariupol.