Ukraine’s future depends on the outcome of fighting in the east, including in and around Bakhmut, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said, while Moscow and Kyiv say fighting in the small city is fierce as Russia steps up its winter campaign to capture it. The mining town of Bakhmut became the focus of the Russian invasion, and the months-long battle for it became the bloodiest infantry battle in Europe since World War II.

The latest on the war in Ukraine, day 384, LIVETEXT:

07:35 The Ukrainian court sentenced a suspect in Russian agency to 15 years in prison, the Security Service of Ukraine reported, writes The Kyiv Independent.

The man is a former vice-rector of one of Kyiv’s higher medical educational institutions. In 2020, he moved to Crimea, where he was recruited by the Russian FSB, the SBU reports.

A month before the start of the invasion, in February 2022, he returned to Kyiv to perform tasks, the SBU reported. According to the SBU, the agent collected information about Ukrainian military personnel undergoing treatment in hospitals in the Kyiv region.

As a reward for the information, the FSB promised to appoint him as deputy minister of health in the administration of Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, the SBU added.

01:12 Zelensky: We will do everything possible and impossible to strengthen our soldiers

President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said during his address to the nation on Monday evening that the Ukrainian authorities will do “everything possible and impossible” to support the soldiers who are on the front lines.

00:53Which countries export the most weapons?

For the past forty years, Russia has been the second largest arms exporter after the United States, but its share of the world market has fallen to 16 percent. France follows with a percentage of 11%, increasing over the years, according to Euronews.

00:33Svitlana Timofeeva, Russian blogger accused by Tirana of espionage, seeks asylum in Albania to avoid extradition

Svitlana Timofeeva, who poses as a Russian blogger and was arrested last August in Albania on espionage charges, has sought asylum in an attempt to avoid extradition, citing fears of persecution in Moscow, her lawyer said on Monday, Reuters reported.

A brief summary of recent events:

• According to Reuters, Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to visit Russia as early as next week.
• The United States has urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to speak directly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, the White House said Monday, after sources told the Wall Street Journal that the Chinese leader would speak with Zelenskyi for the first time since the war began, CNN reported.
• The International Criminal Court plans to open two war crimes cases related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and will seek arrest warrants for others. These are the first international charges brought forward since the beginning of the conflict.
• Moscow has agreed to extend the agreement on the safe export of grain from Ukrainian Black Sea ports, but only for 60 days, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Vershinin said.
• Partisan group “Atesh” claims that on Monday after midnight they killed the deputy head of the military administration in Nova Kakhovka for cooperation with the Russian occupiers. The group claims it detonated the bomb as he approached his car outside the cafe, and that no civilians were injured. The claim could not be verified.
• Zelenskyi said his government will spend $13.5 billion on defense this year, including military salaries and drones.
• As Reuters reports, a well-known Russian lawmaker introduced a bill to parliament on Monday that would raise the conscription age to 21-30 from the current 18-27 by 2026.
• The Kremlin claims that the goals he outlined before the invasion of Ukraine can now be achieved only by military means.
• The Russian state news agency TASS reports that the Russian-appointed authorities in the occupied areas of Donetsk claim that since February 17, 2022, almost 4,500 people have been killed in shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces.
• The Council of the European Union announced on Monday that it has extended for another six months the sanctions imposed against Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine, CNN reports.
• President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said during his address to the nation on Monday evening that the Ukrainian authorities will do “everything possible and impossible” to support the soldiers who are on the front lines.
• The Moscow Patriarchate refuses to vacate the premises of the Pechersk Lavra. The Russian abbot of the Lavra Pechersk Orthodox monastery in Kyiv said on Monday that he and other monks of the monastery have no intention of leaving the monastery premises, Kyiv Independent reports.
• ‘Tens of billions of dollars spent on disinformation’ by Russia and China: US officials arrive in Eastern Europe to help counter Russian propaganda. Russia and China have “clearly” colluded in propaganda and disinformation about the war in Ukraine, and the United States and the West have not invested enough over the years to counter that disinformation, a senior State Department official said Monday, according to CNN.
• Ukraine’s GDP fell by 31.4% in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to a 30.8% drop in the third quarter, the State Statistics Service reports.
• Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Monday that she is open to discussing the possibility of providing Ukraine with F-18 fighter jets, which will soon replace the more modern F-35, AFP reports.
• The Italian government said on Monday that Wagner’s mercenary group was behind an increase in migrant boats trying to cross the Mediterranean as part of Moscow’s strategy to retaliate against countries that support Ukraine, Reuters reported.
• The mayor of the Moscow-occupied city of Melitopol said that Wagner had unsuccessfully tried to recruit among the city’s population, despite increased efforts, CNN reports.

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Monday’s events were broadcast live on HotNews.ro