O/C} An escalated Russian offensive is in the offing tonight following the appointment of a new military commander in Russia.
Amid images of a new convoy of Russian vehicles apparently bound for the Donbas region, Ukrainian troops are planning to stand their ground, with President Zelensky calling for additional Western assistance.
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Morale-boosting words for Ukrainian troops from Zelensky's video address last night. He said the Russians' morale will fall like a stone when Ukrainians take on the Russians in their unremitting resistance.
While he accused Russian President Putin of not even touching the heartrending truth with a bargepole, he also exhorted Western powers, especially the United States, to assist Ukraine in weeding out the Russians by providing materiel as well as trade embargoes.
Having realised that the fish indeed stank from its head, Russian President Vladimir Putin tapped a veteran commander, General Alexander Dvornikov, to lead the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
The U.S. National Security Adviser said Russia had already put a foot wrong regardless, saying this appointment will only make matters worse for Ukrainians.
{Soundbite} JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. National Security Advisor: This general will just be another author of crimes and brutality against Ukrainian civilians.
Be that as it may, questions linger as to whether already demoralised Russian forces are eager to continue their conquest despite having been beaten back.
Back on the war front, missiles thrashed the airport in Dnipro twice on Sunday.
Russia's military was also reported to have used air-launched missiles to pummel Ukraine's air defence missile systems in the southern Mykolaiv region and at an air base in Chuhuiv, a city south of Kharkiv.
Ukrainian authorities are now blasting Moscow for bestial war crimes against civilians, including airstrikes and a recent missile attack on a train station, in addition to the mass killing of civilians in Bucha.
In Mariupol, it was yet another humdrum day, with residents still shorn of all daily necessities as rats desert the sinking ship of Ukraine.
New Zealand has pledged to send a military transport plane as well as a support team of 50 to Europe to deliver more weapons to Ukraine by land.
Meantime, on the diplomatic front, European Union members are meeting to assess the bloc's response to the Russian aggression.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer is due to meet with Vladimir Putin later today to induce further negotiations and address "war crimes".
And a meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and India's Prime Minister will take place later today as the U.S. tries to punch above its weight in rallying global support for a joint and tough response against Russia.
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