The 2nd week of the Russian invasion of Ukraine..non-stop coverage

Weser: War refugees in Ukraine are free to choose their country of asylum

German Interior Minister Nancy Wieser said that it will be possible for war refugees from Ukraine to decide for themselves at the present time which European country they wish to seek asylum in. "I think that people of Ukraine will now want to go within the European Union to countries where they have a lot of friends, relatives and acquaintances in particular," Weser told German radio today. She pointed out that there is no need to set distribution quotas for the reception of (Ukrainian) refugees, if the process of receiving them proceeds normally. And the German minister continued: "But from a legal point of view, the European Commission will have the possibility to determine distribution quotas, but it has not yet used this possibility."

According to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, more than a million Ukrainians have left his country since the start of the Russian offensive, most of them residing in neighboring countries such as Poland, Hungary and the Republic of Moldova.

Russian forces capture Kherson

Russian forces captured Kherson, a large city in southern Ukraine. Kherson is the largest city controlled by Russian forces since the start of this war. Igor Kulekhaev, the mayor of this city of 290,000 people, announced that he had held discussions with "armed guests" in a building belonging to the Kherson administration, alluding to the Russian forces without naming them. "We had no weapons and were not aggressive. We showed that we are working to secure the city and trying to deal with the consequences of the invasion," he wrote in a Facebook message. In a message via Telegram, the head of the regional administration, Gennady Lakhota, asked the city's residents to stay in their homes, noting that "the (Russian) occupiers are all over the city and they are very dangerous."

Kyiv: Explosions and a shell hit the train station

Air raid sirens sounded across the Ukrainian capital. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on the Telegram channel that "the situation is complicated", as several explosions were heard in the city. The shell also hit the southern area of ​​the main train station in Kyiv, according to the Ukrainian railway company Ukrzaleznytsia. The station was slightly damaged, the company said, adding that the attack took place while thousands of women and children were being taken to safety on trains.

The Prime Minister of Israel speaks on the phone with Putin and Zelensky

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who has offered his country to mediate between Russia and Ukraine, spoke with the two countries' leaders. Bennett first called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said on Twitter that they had spoken of "Russian aggression".

The Kremlin later said in a statement that Bennett had taken the initiative to call President Putin and that the latter had told him that observance of Moscow's security interests was among the main conditions for a settlement of the conflict.

At Kyiv's request, Bennett offered to mediate the peace talks with Israel.

Steinmeier calls on Putin to end the war on Ukraine

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has urged his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to end Russia's war on Ukraine. On the sidelines of the prayer of peace in the Church of the Virgin in Dresden, he said: "There is no justification for this war."

"No one can justify before history what is happening in Ukraine, the displacement of hundreds of thousands, the death of innocent people and the destruction of a country. That is why we appeal to the Russian president: stop this war now," he added. He added that it was not courageous to attack a smaller neighboring country, "but it is courageous to stop this war, and this is what we are asking for now."

G7 considers banning Russia from using cryptocurrency

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner announced that the G7 member states are discussing ways to prevent individuals or companies targeted by Western sanctions against Russia from using cryptocurrencies to circumvent the measures taken.

"We must also take measures to prevent individuals and institutions included in the (sanctions) lists from resorting to cryptocurrencies that are not subject to any regulations. We are working in this direction within the framework of the German presidency of the Group of Seven," the minister said in a statement.

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner (17.12.2022)

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said the G7 is discussing banning Russia from using cryptocurrencies

Russia admits killing about 500 of its troops in Ukraine

Russia revealed, through Russian army spokesman Igor Konashenkov, the first toll of its military casualties during the war on Ukraine, announcing the death of 498 of its soldiers and the wounding of 1,597 others. According to the spokesman, the losses on the part of the "Ukrainian military and nationalists" amounted to "2870 dead and about 3,700 wounded."

It is noteworthy that the Ukrainian side is talking about the killing of more than five thousand Russian soldiers.

An overwhelming majority votes in favor of condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine

The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted a resolution denouncing Russia's invasion of Ukraine and calling on Moscow to withdraw all its forces immediately, in a move aimed at isolating Russia politically. The resolution, which was supported by 141 out of 193 members, came at the conclusion of a rare emergency session of the General Assembly called by the Security Council.

German Foreign Minister Annalina Birbock had called on the countries of the world to vote in favor of the resolution, saying that "the Russian war represents a new reality. It requires each of us to take a firm and responsible decision and declare our position."