Russia-Ukraine live: Bakhmut counterattack ‘very soon’, says Kyiv

Ukrainian troops will launch a counterassault on Bakhmut “very soon” as Russia’s winter offensive loses steam, Ukraine’s Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi said.
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s ex-president, said any attempt to arrest President Vladimir Putin after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant would amount to a declaration of war against Russia.
Wagner forces are deporting residents in Bakhmut: Ukraine
According to the Ukrainian government, Wagner forces are allegedly deporting residents from the suburbs of Bakhmut.

The Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said, “Militants forcefully take local residents to captured areas of [the] Luhansk region, where they are filtered. After that, they are deported to Perm and other remote regions of the Russian Federation.”

The statement added that this is a “typical story” where Ukrainians are deported under evacuation and “assimilated” in Russian areas.Hungary will not arrest Putin amid ICC warrant
Hungary would not arrest Putin if he entered the country, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff said, adding that it would have no legal grounds.

When asked if Putin would be arrested if he came to Hungary, Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, told a briefing that the Rome Statute had not been built into the Hungarian legal system.

“We can refer to the Hungarian law and based on that we cannot arrest the Russian President … as the ICC’s statute has not been promulgated in Hungary,” Gulyas said.

When asked, he said his government “had not formed a stance” on the ICC arrest warrant issued against Putin.

“These decisions are not the most fortunate as they take things towards further escalation and not towards peace, this is my personal subjective opinion,” Gulyas added.Russian leaders should be tried in absentia: Ukraine
Russian leaders should be put on trial for the invasion of Ukraine even if they cannot be arrested and brought to court in person, Kyiv’s top prosecutor said.

Ukrainian Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin spoke to the Reuters news agency during a stopover in The Hague after meeting with the chief ICC prosecutor last week, which issued an arrest warrant for Putin.

International support is growing for creating a special tribunal that would prosecute Russian leaders for the invasion.

The special tribunal should go after “the highest political and military leadership, including Putin, for the crime of aggression,” Kostin said.

“I believe that it could be (held) in absentia, because it’s important to deliver a matter of justice for international crimes even if perpetrators are not in the dock.”Zelenskyy promises to ‘restore everything’ in Kherson visit
Zelenskyy posted footage of him visiting Kherson, where he promised to “restore everything” following Russia’s invasion.

On Telegram, the Ukrainian leader said during his visit that he discussed providing electricity to settlements.

“We considered the restoration of electricity supply in the de-occupied territories and the repair of equipment destroyed due to Russian shelling,” he said.

“We have to ensure full restoration and protection of our energy sector! I am grateful to everyone who works for this and returns the light to our people!”