The reconstruction of Ukraine after the war is the biggest European economic project of our time, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said in his annual address to the Verkhovna Rada. He called on the MPs to draft laws that would attract foreign investors, and added that he had discussed the rebuilding of the country with the CEO of the US investment company BlackRock Larry Fink. President Zelensky also spoke of new security guarantees for the country and reforming existing international organizations. Zelensky also noted the role of financial support for Ukraine from allies, calling it “crucial.”

Only a few civilians remain in Bakhmut in Donetsk region, Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Facebook earlier. The city, which had been home to 70,000 people before the war, is now the focus of fierce fighting. “There is no place that is not covered with blood. There is no hour when the terrible roar of artillery does not sound,” President Zelensky wrote, posting photographs of the horrific destruction wrought by Russia in Bakhmut since summer in an attempt to take the city.

Russia has stepped up its attacks on Kherson almost 6 weeks after it was deoccupied by the Ukrainian troops. More than 25 settlements around Kherson and Zaporizhzhia have been shelled, causing civilian casualties and damaging civilian infrastructure.

“There can be no peace plan for Ukraine that does not take into account today’s realities regarding Russian territory, with the entry of four regions into Russia (Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk, and Kherson regions). Plans that do not take these realities into account cannot be peaceful,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated. He rejected the 10-point peace plan of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, which envisages the withdrawal of the Russian troops from Ukraine's internationally-recognized territory (i.e. all territories occupied by Russia since 2014, including Crimea).

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War quotes Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as saying that the Kremlin will continue to pursue a military solution to the war until the Ukrainian government capitulates to Russia’s demands.