Kyiv/Moscow.

The situation in eastern Ukraine remains as of 97. Day of the war extremely difficult. The "maximum combat capability of the Russian army" is now assembled in the Donbass, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video message.

On the same night, the EU agreed on a compromise on the oil embargo. Further sanctions against Russia and financial aid for the Ukraine are also to come.

In the east of the Ukraine, the fighting for the former city of Sievjerodonetsk is entering the decisive phase. The enemy is carrying out "assault activities in the area of ??the villages of Sieberodonetsk and Toshkivka in the Sieverodonetsk area, and hostilities are continuing," the Ukrainian General Staff said in its situation report.

Further Russian ground attacks are reported from the area of ??Bakhmut, a little further west. There the Russians attacked the villages of Solote, Komyschuvahka, Berestowe, Pokrowske and Dolomitne. The situation report states that the attacks were unsuccessful, but at the same time that they would be continued. The attacks around Bakhmut apparently aim to cut off the last metropolitan area in the Luhansk region held by Ukraine, Sievjerodonetsk - Lysychansk, and thus to wipe out the troops stationed there.

Russia launched the war of aggression against the neighboring country on 24. started February. Ukraine is currently expecting a major attack on the center of its defense forces in Donbass. Sloviansk-Kramatorsk is the largest metropolitan area still under Kyivs control. The high command of the armed forces in the east of the country is also stationed here.

EU agrees compromise on oil embargo

The EU countries agreed on a compromise in the dispute over the planned oil embargo against Russia. More than two-thirds of Russian oil deliveries to the EU are said to be affected by the import ban, as EU Council President Charles Michel announced during a summit meeting in Brussels Financial communications network Swift will be excluded and three Russian TV channels will be banned. The EU also promised Ukraine further financial aid of up to nine billion euros. The money is intended to cover running costs, for example for pension payments and the operation of hospitals.

Zelenskyj: Putin speculates on chaos from the hunger crisis

According to Zelenskyy, million tons of grain already stored in Ukraine for export cannot leave the country because of the Russian blockade of the ports . He warned that this would mean starvation in countries in Africa, Asia and Europe, which in turn could trigger migration.

Zelenskyj sees this as Russian President Vladimir Putins intention to destabilize the West. Ukraine is one of the largest grain exporters in the world. Western politicians also accuse Russia of speculating on a hunger crisis and using it as a means of pressure so that the West weakens sanctions. Moscow denies these accusations.

Ukraine and Russia lament dead civilians

In eastern Ukraine both warring parties lamented more civilian fatalities. Three people were killed by Russian shelling in the Donetsk region, Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram. According to the online newspaper Ukrajinska Pravda, a man was killed by Russian shells in the Kharkiv region.

According to the Tass agency, the Russian side said that two civilians were killed by Ukrainian attacks in the Donetsk region and two women were killed in the Luhansk region. The information is not independently verifiable. The two self-proclaimed Peoples Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine are recognized by Moscow as independent states. Their capture is one of Russias war aims.

Russian military reports large body find in Asovstal

Russian military pushed for their own Information in the underground bunkers of the Azovstal factory, which was fought over for months, on more than 97 corpses of Ukrainian fighters. "The corpses of fallen fighters and soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were stored in a container with non-working refrigeration 152," said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

To date, the Ukrainian leadership has not made any request to transfer the dead. On the contrary, the Russian troops discovered mines under the corpses, with which the container was probably supposed to be blown up on instructions from Kiev in order to blacken Russia, Konashenkov claimed. Russia will soon hand over the dead to representatives of Ukraine, he said.

France under investigation for war crimes

After The anti-terror prosecutors office is investigating the death of a French war reporter in Ukraine because of possible war crimes. The investigations were started, among other things, because of an intentional attack on the life of a person protected by international law, as reported by the French news agency AFP.

TV journalist Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff was killed on Monday near Seyerodonetsk in eastern Ukraine while accompanying a humanitarian evacuation. The 32 year old reporter was hit by shrapnel. It was his second assignment in Ukraine since the beginning of the war.

The day will come

International investigators will comment in The Hague on the status of investigations into possible war crimes in Ukraine. Shortly after the start of the Russian invasion of the neighboring country in February, Ukraine, Poland and Lithuania set up a joint team of investigators, and the International Criminal Court joined just over a month later.

In Brussels, the EU special summit continues. Topics include the situation in Ukraine, efforts to strengthen defense and energy and food security. (dpa)