Kiev/Moscow (dpa) – In a survey, most Ukrainians oppose compromising with their wartime rival Russia in exchange for a peace deal.

According to the results published yesterday by two well-known institutions, more than 90 percent of around 2,000 respondents opposed the transfer of territory. Nearly 74 percent rejected the option of joining NATO. Meanwhile, the presidents of Ukraine and Russia are seeking broad support from heads of state and governments of other countries. According to the authorities, the air defense in Moscow repelled the attack of the new Ukrainian drone.

In the survey, 80 percent of participants opposed reducing troop numbers in the Ukrainian army in peacetime. At the same time, less than 49 percent of them expect positive developments in their own country. In December last year, after the successful expulsion of Russian invaders from northern Ukraine and most of the Kharkiv and Cherson regions, the figure was still barely 60 percent. The survey was conducted in government-controlled areas except for Luhansk Oblast, Donetsk Oblast and the Crimean Peninsula.

Kroaring explosion echo Moscow

Ukraine has been fighting off a Russian invasion for nearly 18 months with massive assistance from the West. Russia’s demands include relinquishing Ukrainian territories in the east and south, including Crimea, which it annexed in 2014. Ukraine must also refrain from joining the western military alliance NATO, which is enshrined in the constitution, agree to extensive demilitarization, and give more rights to minorities. Russia in the country.

Moscow currently controls nearly 20 percent of Ukraine but is increasingly faced with counterattacks on its own soil. Like yesterday morning, a powerful explosion resounded throughout the Moscow metropolis during the night.

Two Ukrainian drones were shot down, the Russian Defense Ministry said, according to state news agency TASS. The air defense system interfered with the third flying robot’s control system, after which it crashed into an unfinished building in the city’s high-rise district. So there are no victims. Operations at the capital’s airport have resumed after a brief pause.

Zelenskyj thanked EU countries for military and reconstruction assistance

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj was pleased with the results of his multi-day trip to European capitals and thanked the countries for promised military and reconstruction assistance. “There is a plane for Ukraine. There is additional armor and we are strengthening air defenses,” he said in his daily video address. This time it was recorded on the train Selenskyj was traveling on returning to Kiev after traveling through various European Union countries.

After living in Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark, he eventually visited Greece and spoke with heads of state and government in the Balkans, Zelenskyj explained. Denmark and the Netherlands recently promised Ukraine the delivery of F-16 Western fighter jets. Zelenskyy thanked Greece not only for its arms assistance, but also for its promise to take over cover for the reconstruction of the Ukrainian port city of Odessa, which has been hit repeatedly by Russian rockets and drones.

Putin has denied any guilt over the grain deal violations

Meanwhile, while attending the Brics Summit in South Africa, Russian President Vladimir Putin renewed his criticism of the West and Ukraine. For example, the grain agreement with Ukraine was suspended because none of the conditions set out in the agreement to facilitate exports of Russian grain and fertilizer were fulfilled. “The commitment to Russia in this matter was simply ignored,” he claimed in a speech broadcast via video at a meeting of the Brics Group, South Africa’s main developing countries.

Moscow will only lift its blockade of Ukrainian ports and return to the agreement after all Russian demands are met, Putin said. At the same time, he offered to replace Ukrainian grain shipments on world markets with Russian transport, “both commercially and through free assistance to countries in need”. Despite international warnings of a food crisis, Moscow has suspended an agreement agreed last summer on Ukraine’s grain exports, which was mediated by the United Nations and Turkey.

Media: Russian Senior General Surovikin deposed

According to the media, the head of the Russian aerospace forces, General Sergei Surovikin, who played a key role in the war against Ukraine, was removed from office two months after the uprising of the Wagner mercenary group. The former editor-in-chief of the disbanded liberal Echo Moskvy radio station, Alexei Venediktov, wrote on his Telegram channel, citing an official decree, that Surovikin would remain under the control of the Defense Ministry. The decree itself was not initially published, although several Russian nationalist military blogs reported Surovikin’s replacement.

From October 2022 to January 2023, Surovikin was the commander-in-chief of the Russian units in Ukraine. He is considered one of chief mercenary Yevgeny Prigozhin’s most important allies in the Russian regular army in his struggle for power with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov. Although Surovikin publicly condemned the uprising by Wagner’s troops in late June, according to political observers he was later sidelined.

Biden adviser: Continued US bipartisan support

The US government continues to promise long-term support to Ukraine, despite conflicting opinions from some Republicans. US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said there were strong voices from both Republicans and Democrats in key leadership positions in the House and Senate advocating continued financial support for Kiev. Therefore, the government assumed that aid to Kiev would be maintained, despite the dissenting voices on the part of the Republicans.

What matters today

The summit meeting of the Brics countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa continues in the South African economic metropolis, Johannesburg. Kremlin leader Putin wants to reconnect with the plenary session via video.

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