Intensive bombing by the Russians of the Ukrainian city of Avdiyivka will turn this area into a “post-apocalyptic movie location,” believes the head of the city’s military administration, Vitaly Barabash. Reuters wrote that there are about 2,000 civilians there, and the city could become “the second Bakhmut.”

Synthesis of the last 24 hours of the war:

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on all Ukrainians to continue the war, although the fighting is concentrated mainly in the east of the country. Zelenskyi also reported that 1.5 billion euros were received from the EU, which were transferred to the accounts of the National Bank.

• According to Andrii Demchenko, a spokesman for the Border Service of Ukraine, the number of Russian troops in Belarus has decreased to about 4,000 from about 10,000 in January.

• NATO criticized Russia for its “dangerous and irresponsible” nuclear rhetoric after Vladimir Putin said Russia would deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

• Ukraine responded to Russia’s plans to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus by calling for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kyiv stated that this is “another provocative step” by Moscow, which undermines “the international security system as a whole.” Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov said that the Kremlin took Belarus as a “nuclear hostage”.

• Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, warned Belarus against deploying Russian nuclear weapons and that it would represent an irresponsible escalation and a threat to European security. Belarus can still stop this gesture by Moscow, it is their choice. The EU is ready to respond with new sanctions.”

• Three people were injured, three residential buildings were damaged as a result of an explosion in the city of Kireyevsk, Tula region of Russia. Local authorities attribute the explosion to a Ukrainian Tu-141 Strizh UAV. None of the victims received life-threatening injuries, Reuters reports with reference to Russian news agencies.

• Russia and China are not creating a military alliance, Putin said in a TV interview. Putin declared the transparency of military cooperation between the two countries, news agencies report.

• The head of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency will visit the Zaporizhia NPP next week to assess the security situation there, the IAEA reported. Rafael Grossi said the danger to nuclear safety at the Russian-controlled plant was “too obvious”.

The latest on the war in Ukraine, day 397, LIVETEXT:

06:50The President of Ukraine met with the actor, Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom and the UNICEF team “I met with the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom and the UNICEF team, an organization engaged in humanitarian support and protection of children. We discussed the issue of rebuilding our country, our school infrastructure. I am grateful to them for all their support,” Zelenskyi said.

06:40 The Ukrainian military has completed training on Challenger 2 tanks in Great Britain and will return home for the spring counteroffensive, writes Pravda.ua. “It is gratifying to see the determination of Ukrainian soldiers who trained on Challenger 2 tanks on British soil. We will continue to support them and do everything we can to support Ukraine as long as it takes,” said the British secretary. defense, Ben Wallace.

0620 Russian military expert Viktor Lytovkin suggested that tungsten projectiles could be Russia’s answer to the possible use of weapons with depleted uranium, which Britain promised to transfer to Kyiv. There may be several options, Litovkin says, quoted by REN TV. “For example, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation can use tungsten anti-tank projectiles, which destroy any type of armor without leaving radioactive dust,” Litovkin explained.

23:00 In Bakhmut, Ukrainian border guards eliminated the assault unit of the Russian PMK “Wagner”.

As “Ukrainian Pravda” reports with reference to a video published by the State Border Service of Ukraine, Ukrainian border guards destroyed a group of at least 15 mercenaries of the “Wagner” PMC in Bakhmut on Sunday.

10:12 in the eveningHungary is asking Sweden to stop commenting on its internal problems in order to ratify its accession to NATO