Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said there will be more interaction and communication with the European Union and Ukraine's closest neighbors in the coming weeks.
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"We have already determined our Ukrainian priorities for the coming weeks. We clearly see the task -- both in terms of packages that will strengthen our positions at the front, and in terms of political interaction with partners, and in terms of what is needed for the financial stability of Ukraine,” Zelenskiy said on January 21 in a video address posted on X, formerly Twitter.
“We are preparing more interaction and new communication, new important negotiations," Zelenskiy said.
He also said that on January 21 there had been about 60 battles on the front, describing the fighting near Avdiyivka as the most intense, but also mentioning clashes near Bakhmut, Maryinka, and Kupyansk.
"In one day, the inhumane Russians shelled more than a hundred cities, towns, and villages in nine regions: from the Chernihiv and Sumy regions to the Mykolayiv and Kirovohrad region, he said, referring to regions in northeastern and southern Ukraine.
“Russian strikes are particularly brutal in the Donetsk region. Unfortunately, there are wounded, there are dead. My condolences to all those who have lost family and friends," Zelenskiy said.
He expressed confidence that Russia will be held accountable for such actions.
"Russia must feel and remember forever that the aggressor himself loses the most from aggression,” he added, saying that he is grateful to everyone who “brings Russia closer to responsibility in all ways,” whether this is though military assistance, sanctions, or legal and political means.
Zelenskiy did not mention an attack on a market area in a suburb of the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk that a Russian-installed authority said killed 27 people and injured 25. Denis Pushilin, the Russian-appointed head of the Donetsk region, said Ukrainian forces used artillery to carry out the attack.
The Ukrainian military's General Staff said earlier that Russian forces launched four missile and 69 air strikes, carried out 50 attacks from rocket salvo systems on Ukrainian troop positions and populated areas.
According to the General Staff, the Ukrainian military repelled attacks by Russian forces in seven directions, mostly in Lyman and Avdiyivka.
The General Staff said in its daily assessment that the Russian military actively uses aviation and first-person view drones and conducts assault operations with the support of armored vehicles.