Ukraine updates: Kyiv praises Scholz for EU summit move

Delegates from Russia's ruling party unanimously backed President Vladimir Putin's bid to be reelected, Russian state agencies reported on Sunday.

This comes just a day after the Russian leader's supporters formally nominated Putin to run in next year's election as an independent.

United Russia Chairman and former Russian President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev urged fellow party members to "mobilize all activists and supporters" in support of Putin before the election, which is due to take place between March 15-17.

Medvedev referred to Putin as "our candidate," and said that his reelection for a fifth term as head of state "should be absolutely logical, legitimate and absolutely indisputable."

"We must mobilize all activists, all supporters in order to prevent any disruptions during the election campaign, stop any attempts to influence the course of the campaign from the outside, arrange provocations, disseminate false, harmful information or violate public order," Medvedev said.

Putin's reelection appears certain given the iron grip he has acquired over Russia's political system during his 24 years at the helm. Prominent critics who could challenge him are either in jail or living abroad.

Moldova has begun military maneuvers as part of an exercise near the breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria which is controlled by Russian troops. 

The Moldovan Defense Ministry said on Sunday that the exercises are set to last until Friday. Military vehicles were already traveling on the roads, the ministry said in a statement.

Moldova, which borders Ukraine, is wary of the threat posed by Russia.

Moscow has previously warned against any attempt to take back control of the breakaway region by force.

On Thursday, EU leaders said it was ready to begin accession talks with both Ukraine and Moldova.

A new barrage of Russian drone attacks on Ukraine's Odesa region on the Black Sea killed one person, Ukraine's military said on Sunday.

One drone that had been shot down crashed into a house, exploding, the military authorities said. One male resident of the house was killed.

The military released images of widespread devastation, allegedly captured in the aftermath of the attack.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ridiculed a claim by US President Joe Biden that Russia would attack a NATO country should it win in Ukraine, stressing that Moscow had no interest in fighting with the NATO military alliance. 

"It is complete nonsense — and I think President Biden understands that," Putin said in an interview Sunday with Rossiya state television. 

Biden earlier this month warned Putin "won't stop" in Ukraine if he was successful there.

Putin, however, said Moscow had "no interest —  either in geopolitical, economic or military terms —  to fight with NATO countries."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba praised on Sunday a move by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during the EU summit, which enabled accession talks for Kyiv.

In the summit, Scholz suggested that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban leave the meeting temporarily to allow the other heads of states to reach the necessary consensus for Kiev's accession, which Hungary had blocked.

Scholz's move allowed Orban to stick to his stance on the negotiations without further blocking Ukraine's accession.

"What Chancellor Olaf Scholz did at the summit, to remove the threat of a Hungarian veto, will go down in history as an act of German leadership in the interests of Europe," Kuleba told the German Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

"I can only hope that this also signifies a broader and irreversible turnaround in Germany's attitude toward leading efforts to resolve the most complicated issues," he added.

After the summit, Scholz said the move was carried out "by mutual agreement in accordance with our rules." 

"This is not something that should always be done," he added.

Moscow launched an overnight Iskander ballistic missile at Ukraine, the Ukrainian Air Force has said.

"The Russian occupying forces attacked with the Iskander-K cruise missile, the Kh-59 guided air missile..., as well as 20 Shahed-type strike drones," the air force said.

The "Iskander-K cruise missile did not reach its goal", the air force said.

The Russian Defense Ministry, in turn, said in a statement its air defense systems "destroyed and intercepted 33 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the territories of the Lipetsk, Rostov and Volgograd regions."

DW could not independently verify the reports.

UK intelligence has said it was "almost certain" that the 2024 Russian presidential election in the four occupied regions in Ukraine "will be neither free nor fair."

"The Russian authorities almost certainly see achieving the 'correct' results in these regions as a priority because they want to give the perception of legitimacy to Russia's invasion," the UK Defense Ministry said in its latest intelligence update.

"The Russian administration will almost certainly utilize methods including substantive electoral fraud and voter intimidation to ensure Russian President Vladimir Putin wins in the regions by a substantial margin," it added.

In September last year, Russia illegally annexed the eastern Ukrainian regions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Luhansk and Donetsk.

On Monday, Russia's Central Elections Commission said it would also run next year's election in the four regions.

rmt/lo (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)