According to the Russian military, the Luhansk region is under its control, while the Ukrainian President Zelenskyj is confident of being able to win the war. He wants the reconstruction of his country, which is to become the "freest, most modern and safest country in Europe," to start quickly.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the country's reconstruction not to wait until the end of the Russian war of aggression. Much must be done immediately, Zelenskyj emphasized in his daily video speech on Monday evening. In the areas from which Russian troops had been driven out, tens of thousands of houses had been destroyed. You also have to prepare for the winter now, including with a view to the energy supply.
The first major conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine is currently taking place in Lugano, Switzerland. The Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Schmyhal estimated there on Monday that at least 750 billion dollars (almost 720 billion euros) would be necessary for this. Large parts of the economy have been paralyzed by fighting and Russian attacks, Zelenskyj said in his speech. Thousands of companies are at a standstill. At the same time, it must be about more than just putting up walls that have been destroyed: "Ukraine must become the freest, most modern and safest country in Europe."
Zelenskyj only briefly commented on the course of the fighting in the east of the country, where Ukrainian troops had to give up the city of Lysychansk at the weekend. The Russian troops have thus largely brought the Luhansk region under their control - which was described as a goal of their so-called special operation, as the war is officially called in Russia. The Ukrainian armed forces inflicted casualties on the Russian military every day, Zelenskyy said. "We must break them." Although this will take time and "superhuman efforts", there is no alternative to secure Ukraine's future.
