In a short ceremony Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky celebrated the return of some of his soldiers from Russian captivity. “It was a special day in a special week,” he said in his daily video message Friday night. At the same time, he announced that he would bring back more soldiers from the Russian camps. “We will not leave a single Ukrainian in Russian prisons, camps and “isolation centers” (SIZOs). We think of everyone.”

Zelensky presented medals to a number of former prisoners of war in Kyiv in the afternoon. Over the past few days, Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners of war several times. According to Zelensky, since the beginning of the war in February, 1,331 Ukrainian servicemen have been released from Russian captivity in this way. Meanwhile, Kyiv continues to seek a special tribunal to try Russia’s war crimes.

“As long as the fighting continues, while our heroes are dying in the trenches, and as long as at least one prisoner is in the hands of the enemy, this war is not over for me, and even more so for none of you,” he said. This was reported in the Office of the President during the conference ceremony. Saturday marks 283 days of Russia’s aggressive war against a neighboring country.

War in Ukraine: Special Tribunal Efforts Continue

Zelenskiy said efforts by the Ukrainian leadership to set up a special tribunal to prosecute Russian war crimes, with Western support, continue. Work continues to recruit a “critical mass” of supporters to form this tribunal. As conceived by Kyiv, it should be based on the model of the Nuremberg Tribunal. While the Nazis were brought to justice in Nuremberg, according to Kyiv, the political and military leadership of Russia for the aggressive war against Ukraine should be held accountable at this special tribunal.

“London, Paris, Berlin, Warsaw and other capitals – we are strengthening our positions everywhere and gathering the support of our partners,” Zelensky said on Friday evening. “I am sure that there will be a tribunal, there will be justice.”

EU, G7 and Australia want to limit Russian oil prices

The seven leading democratic economic powers (G7) and Australia want to impose a ceiling on the price of oil from Russia in agreement with the European Union. This was announced by the G7 and Australia on Saturday evening. The states want to force Russia to sell oil at a price below the market price to buyers in other states.

The agreement reached on Friday provides for an initial price cap of $60 per barrel. If possible, the price should apply from Monday. In addition to Germany, the G7 also includes the US, Canada, France, UK, Italy and Japan. Germany currently chairs the group. Representatives of the EU government previously reached an agreement on Friday.

While the EU is training 1,100 Ukrainian soldiers

Two and a half weeks after the start of the EU training mission for the Ukrainian army, 1,100 troops are currently being trained. This was stated by EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell on Friday when he visited a training camp in Brzeg, Poland.

This mission shows the desire of Europe to support Ukraine in the war against Russia, which has been going on for more than nine months. The EU foreign ministers decided on the mission on 14 November. The next day was the official start. In total, up to 15 thousand soldiers should be trained in 20 participating countries, including Germany.

Ukraine received the first Hawk anti-aircraft missile systems from Spain

Ukraine received the first batch of Hawk anti-aircraft systems from Spain. This was stated by Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov on Friday after a meeting with his Spanish counterpart Margarita Robles in Odessa.

They will be followed by new Hawk anti-aircraft missiles from the warehouses of Spain. The Ukrainian military is already being trained in Spain. The medium-range anti-aircraft system, created in the United States, was put into service in the early 1960s and modernized several times. The Hawk has already been phased out in most NATO countries.

Whirlwind around Russian opposition broadcasters

In Latvia, the independent Russian television channel Dozhd has been targeted by the authorities for covering the war in Ukraine. The National Council for Electronic Media (NCEM) fined a TV channel 10,000 euros for showing a map showing the Ukrainian-annexed peninsula of Crimea as part of Russia. The Russian armed forces were referred to as “our army,” according to a NEPLP Twitter post.

The media regulator also opened a case against Dozhd for broadcasting appeals in support of the Russian army. Editor-in-chief Tikhon Dzyadko insisted that the opposition channel did not provide any assistance to the Russian army. He apologized on Twitter for the “misinterpreted” call from the moderator, who the broadcaster said has since been fired. Latvia granted Dozhd a broadcasting license in June after the channel stopped broadcasting in Russia in early March due to heavy crackdown by Russian authorities.

Latvia demands ‘more responsibility in Europe’ from Germany

According to Latvia, Germany should show more leadership and responsibility in Europe. This was stated by State Secretary of the Ministry of Defense in Riga Janis Garisons in an interview with Network Germany (Saturday). “If we look to the future, we think that Germany should take on more responsibility in Europe,” Garisons said. “Someone must lead Europe and unite the defense capabilities of individual countries. After all, Germany is a major economic, military and political power and is located in the center of Europe. (pack/dpa)