The upcoming inauguration of Mexico's president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum has become a focal point of international attention, as Ukraine calls for the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin should he attend the event. The Ukrainian embassy in Mexico made the request on Aug. 7, citing an international arrest warrant issued against Putin for alleged war crimes.

According to The Kyiv Independent, the Ukrainian embassy expressed gratitude to Mexico for inviting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the Oct. 1 ceremony, while also urging compliance with the arrest warrant. "We trust that the Mexican government will comply with the international arrest warrant and hand over the aforementioned [Putin] to the United Nations judicial body in The Hague," the embassy stated.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued the arrest warrant for Putin in March 2023, accusing him of war crimes related to the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia following Moscow's invasion in early 2022.

Juan Ramon de la Fuente, designated as Sheinbaum's foreign minister, explained that inviting leaders of all countries with which Mexico has diplomatic relations, including both Russia and Ukraine, is "standard protocol" for such events.

The situation is complicated by Mexico's ICC membership and its strengthening ties with Russia. Putin congratulated Sheinbaum on her June victory, referring to Mexico as Russia's "historically friendly partner" in Latin America.

Sheinbaum, set to become Mexico's first female president, secured a historic win in the general election on June 2 and will begin her six-year term in October. Both Putin and Zelenskyy were among the world leaders who extended their congratulations.

The Kyiv Independent also reported that according to Russia's Izvestia newspaper, Mexico has formally invited Putin to attend the inauguration. The newspaper cited the Mexican embassy in Russia as its source for this information.

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Faced with a critical shortage of infantry on the front lines, Ukraine has adopted a controversial tactic: releasing convicted felons, including those jailed for serious crimes like drug dealing, armed assaults, and even murder, to enlist them in high-risk assault brigades, according to The Washington Post. Over 2,750 men have been released from Ukrainian prisons since the parliament approved a law in May authorizing certain convicts to join the military.

These former prisoners, seeking revenge against Russia or personal redemption, are trading their prison jumpsuits for Ukrainian army uniforms and deploying to the most dangerous combat zones. Senya Shcherbyna, 24, serving six years for drug dealing, expressed hope that this opportunity would allow him to "redeem myself and seem more useful to my society." However, Serhii Lytvynenko, who has served 11 years of a 14-year sentence for deadly assault, voiced concerns about potential mistreatment, saying, "We don't know right now if they're going to take you and just throw you in like meat."

The recruitment of criminals is a sign of Kyiv's struggle to replenish its forces, which have been depleted and exhausted after more than two years of virtually nonstop fighting against Russia's invasion. While Ukraine has approved a new mobilization law aimed at widening the draft pool, it has yet to yield enough new troops. As a result, the Ukrainian general staff is seeking able-bodied fighters wherever possible, including reassigning soldiers from rear positions to combat roles and recruiting from prisons.

Under the new law, the released convicts can be assigned only to assault brigades, which engage in face-to-face combat with Russian troops, reflecting Ukraine's urgent need for front-line infantry. Justice Minister Denys Maliuska, as quoted by The Washington Post, stated, "The motivation of our inmates is stronger than our ordinary soldiers. Their release is only one part of the motive. They want to protect their country and they want to turn the page."

The Post interviewed several newly released prisoners who have joined the military. Dmytro, 28, was sentenced to 4 and a half years for stealing a phone but lost his wife and two children in a Russian airstrike. Avenging their deaths motivates him to fight. Edward, 35, who was convicted of armed assault, said he had dreamed of joining the military as a young boy but fell into crime due to poverty.

While some commanders are eager to have the convicts in their ranks, others are skeptical, fearing potential disciplinary issues or desertion. One anonymous military official expressed concerns about disorder on the front line but acknowledged the need for manpower, stating, "No one has trust in this, but we need it."

Ukrainian officials insist the program is constitutional, ethical, and practical during wartime, given the thousands of fighting-age men sitting in prisons instead of filling crucial roles on the front. Unlike in Russia, where the recruitment of criminals was pioneered by the Wagner mercenary group, Ukraine's convicts will be recruited into the official military and receive the same benefits as regular soldiers.

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National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi will participate Sunday in a confidential meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defense as well as the Aliyah and Integration committees on the situation in Ukraine and Russia. 

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The meeting follows a decision by the Aliyah and Integration Committee to close the special offices set up in both countries after the outbreak of the war to expedite the immigration process to Israel – despite the fact that the number of olim, especially from Russia, remains significant. 

Video: The aftermath of a drone attack in Moscow. Credit: Israel Hayom

The agenda also includes a recent decision by the Aliyah and Integration Ministry to redirect focus from encouraging aliyah from Eastern Europe to Western nations, such as the United States and France. 

The meeting was requested by  Likud's Yuli Edelstein, New Hope's Ze'ev Elkin, and Yisrael Beytenu's Oded Forer, who are expected to demand the emergency immigration centers – known as "One Stop Shops" – remain open. 

"Canceling the policy will put thousands of Jews at risk due to the war and instability in these regions," the three said in a joint statement. 

Edelstein and Elkin have criticized the Israeli government's approach to the war, calling for increased support for Ukraine. The two even met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv in February.

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Russia's President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is "not a Jew," but rather a "disgrace to the Jewish people."

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Speaking at an annual economic forum in St. Petersburg, Putin said, "I have a lot of Jewish friends. They say that Zelenskyy is not Jewish, that he is a disgrace to the Jewish people.

Video: Reuters

Responding to the claim, Ukraine's Chief Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman said he was proud of Zelenskyy.

"I'm proud of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who stood with his nation at the beginning of the war even though it was a danger to his life, showed extraordinary courage, and continues to defend the Ukrainian people. I, along with all of Ukrainian Jewish society and the entire free world, support President Zelenskyy," he said.

Former Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky also expressed support for the Ukrainian president.

"Ukrainians can be proud of electing a Jewish president, who has united the Ukrainian people in a difficult struggle against barbaric aggression. And we Jews can be proud that a representative of our people plays such a unique historical role in mobilizing not only the Ukrainian people, but the entire free world, to protect our future," he said.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk later suggested that Putin made the remarks due to the upcoming trip to Israel by Ukraine's first lady, Olena Zelenska.

i24NEWS contributed to this report.

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Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska will visit Israel next week at the invitation of her counterpart in Jerusalem, Michal Herzog.

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The wife of President Isaac Herzog will escort the wife of Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during her time in the Jewish state, with a focus on post-trauma therapies.

The visit comes against the backdrop of Israel providing humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine who are suffering under the Russian invasion of their country. Israel has also taken in refugees and provided medical treatment to the wounded.

On Monday, the two women will visit Safra Children's Hospital at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan. After that they will they will proceed to a professional discussion with the National Coalition for Trauma and NATAL—The Israel Trauma and Resiliency Center, a nonprofit organization specializing in the field of war-and-terror-related trauma, together with senior representatives from Israel's Foreign Ministry and the European Union.

"Mrs. Zelensky's visit is the result of a collaboration that took place over the past year to strengthen therapists in the field of mental health and trauma care in Ukraine, and as a result of the relationship formed between the wife of the country's president, Michal Herzog, and the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, in these fields," said the President's Office.

 Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Russia fired more than 20 cruise missiles and two drones at Kyiv and other parts of Ukraine early Friday, killing at least twelve people and striking a residential building in central Ukraine, officials said.

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Air raid sirens sounded around the capital in the first attack against the city in nearly two months and Ukraine's air force intercepted 11 cruise missiles and two unmanned aerial vehicles over Kyiv, according to the Kyiv City Administration. There were no immediate reports of any missiles hitting targets in Kyiv but fragments from intercepted missiles or drones damaged power lines and a road in one neighborhood. No casualties were reported.

But in Uman, around 215 kilometers (134 miles) south of Kyiv, two cruise missiles hit a nine-story residential building, killing at least six people and wounding 17, according to Ukrainian national police. Three children were rescued from the rubble, police said.

"All the glass flew out, everything flew out, even the chandelier fell. Everything was covered in glass," resident Olha Turina told The Associated Press at the scene. "Then there was an explosion. ... We barely found our things and ran out."

Turina, whose husband is fighting on the front lines, said one of her child's classmates was missing. "I don't know where they are, I don't know if they are alive," she said. "I don't know why we have to go through all this. We never bothered anyone."

One of the people killed in the Uman attack was a 75-year-old who was in her apartment in a neighboring building and suffered internal bleeding from the shockwave of the blast, according to emergency personnel on the scene.

Three body bags lay next to the building as smoke continued to billow hours after the attack. Soldiers, civilians and emergency crews searched through the rubble outside for more victims, while residents dragged belongings out of the damaged building. One woman, crying in shock, was taken away by rescue crews for help.

A 31-year-old woman and her 2-year-old daughter were also killed in the eastern city of Dnipro in another attack, regional Governor Serhii Lysak said. Four people were also wounded, and a private home and business were damaged.

In Kyiv, the anti-aircraft system was activated, according to the Kyiv City Administration. Air raid sirens started at about 4 a.m., and the alert ended about two hours later. The attack was the first on the capital since March 9.

The missiles were fired from aircraft operating in the Caspian Sea region, according to Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander in Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi.

Overall, he said, Ukraine intercepted 21 of 23 Kh-101 and Kh-555 type cruise missiles launched, as well as the two drones.

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The attacks came as NATO announced that its allies and partner countries have delivered more than 98% of the combat vehicles promised to Ukraine during Russia's invasion and war, strengthening Kyiv's capabilities as it contemplates launching a counteroffensive.

Along with more than 1,550 armored vehicles, 230 tanks and other equipment, Ukraine's allies have sent "vast amounts of ammunition" and trained and equipped more than nine new Ukrainian brigades, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said.

Some NATO partner countries, such as Sweden and Australia, have also provided armored vehicles.

The overnight attacks and comments came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping held a "long and meaningful" phone call on Wednesday in their first known contact since Russia's full-scale invasion more than a year ago.

Though Zelenskyy said he was encouraged by Wednesday's call and Western officials welcomed Xi's move, it didn't appear to improve peace prospects.

Russia and Ukraine are far apart in their terms for peace, and Beijing – while looking to position itself as a global diplomatic power – has refused to criticize Moscow's invasion. The Chinese government sees Russia as a diplomatic ally in opposing U.S. influence in global affairs, and Xi visited Moscow last month.

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While studying Political Science and Communications in Bar-Ilan's International Program, I've met people from all over the world. My class, however, is predominantly Russian. The ratio of Russians to Ukrainians is about 6:1. Due to the Ukrainian crisis, the tension in the air was palpable in recent lessons. As an uninvolved American, I listened quietly and attempted to unpack both sides of the conflict, and only recently came to a conclusion. I was moved the most, not by the arguments of a Russian or Ukrainian, but by a Georgian.

At the outbreak of the war, I was consuming only Western media, convinced that Putin was the devil-reincarnated: greedy, power-hungry, and selfish. Zelenskyy embodied nobility, legitimacy, and selflessness. One of my professors, a New Yorker, basically said as much in class. This led to an uproar from the Russians, and then a debate ensued. Russia is only protecting itself from Western threats, they said. After all, Russia is one of the most invadable countries and has been compromised many times throughout history. The Mongol Empire in the 13th Century burned and looted its foremost cities Kyiv, Vladimir, Ryazan', and Chernihiv, as well as others. In the 16th century, the Crimean Khanate, supported by the Turkish army, invaded central Russia, devastated Ryazan, and burned Moscow. In the 17th century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth occupied Moscow and the Kremlin. During the Great Northern War in the 18th century, the Swedes invaded Russia. The beginning of the 19th was dominated by the Napoleonic Wars, which was one of the bloodiest points in world history. Lastly, and most famously, in the 20th century, Nazi Germany invaded Russia towards the beginning of World War II.

Nowadays, Russia fears isolation and conspiracy. Most of its neighboring countries have banded with the West to form NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, whose mission statement is to "safeguard the Allies' freedom and security by political and military means." Being that the United States has always held a pro-democratic and anti-socialist stance and is the main power of NATO, Russia is worried that it will be forced out of its position as a main political actor and world power. Due to this legitimate concern, Russia is attempting to block Ukraine from joining NATO and reestablish it as a Russian-controlled state. Yet, after watching the atrocities that were being unleashed on the Ukrainian people on the news, I still wasn't convinced.

A Russian Perspective

One of my Russian peers, who had served in the Russian military, explained to me after class that he was anti-war, but pro-Russia. He meant that he didn't believe Russia should have tried to take Ukraine, however, now that they are at war, he stands behind his country and wishes to see them succeed. When I heard it from this perspective, I couldn't fault him. After all, if hypothetically, Israel invaded Iran and faced world criticism, I and millions of other Jews and Israelis would stand behind Israel and the IDF.

However, after hearing what my Georgian classmate had to say, I was swayed to sympathize and stand with Ukraine. My Georgian classmate is eighteen-years-old and not Jewish. He came to Israel for affordable education and new opportunities. He was six years old when Georgia had their own altercation with Russia in 2008. His father was from South Ossetia; his mother was from Georgia. Ossetia lies on the Russian-Georgian border, its northern half belonging to Russia and its southern half belonging to Georgia. Since the 1920s, South Ossetia had wanted independence from Georgia and Soviet Russia was all too eager to help them extricate themselves from Georgia and unite them with their Russian-controlled northern counterpart. On August 1, 2008, there was a (most likely orchestrated) explosion near the capital of South Ossetia, injuring five Georgian policemen. That night, intense fighting erupted between Georgians and South Ossetians, killing six Ossetians. Later that week, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili called for an immediate ceasefire from both sides. Attacks on Georgian villages became frequent after that. The day after the broadcast, there were Russian tanks along the border of South Ossetia. Russia invaded Georgia, claiming to conduct "peace enforcement." In five days, the Russian army took control of South Ossetia and expelled Georgian forces. Russia launched airstrikes throughout Georgia, killing hundreds and forcing thousands to flee, my classmates' family included.

Unlike present-day Ukraine, the Georgian crisis didn't make international news and did not receive the aid of western countries until the very end. At the time, the Beijing Summer Olympics were being held and most news channels weren't interested in covering a foreign conflict. There was a movie made about this called "Five Days of War," which follows the story of an American war reporter who films the ongoing events in Georgia, but cannot get American news networks to broadcast the story.

The Boy from Georgia

My classmate relayed to me what his life was like at that time; how he'd hide in his home from the Russians and feel his room shake as the debris fell from the ceiling, how scared he felt all the time, and how he would never forget the sight of his mother crying. His father, Ossetian-born, was drafted against his will to fight alongside the Russians. His uncle, his mother's brother, was drafted into the Georgian army. His family became enemies overnight, placed against each other, leaving only him and his mother to pick up the pieces. They moved from village to village, trying to outrun the approaching Russian army and overhead threats. They made it all the way to the Georgian capital on foot and lived there in a shelter until the war was over. He has barely spoken to his father since then, only on his birthdays, and has not seen him as his father has lived in Ossetia since the war and Ossetian-Georgian relations are still negative. His mother, overrun by grief and poverty, left him in the care of her parents and went to work abroad to make enough money to support them from afar. With some unknown resilient strength, he found the courage to leave Georgia upon graduating from high school and come to Israel alone to make a life for himself. Despite going through so much, he is amazingly positive and wise beyond his years.

"Because I know what it's like," he told me, "I'm with Ukraine." After listening to his story about growing up in a war-torn country and watching the film he recommended on the 2008 conflict, I felt thoroughly convinced that he was right. In 2008, Western countries came to Georgia's aid in the end and they are gathering again for Ukraine now. May Ukraine liberate itself soon and restore autonomous freedom once again.

Meaningful Quote

"Out of suffering has emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars." –Kahlil Gibran

First published by Times of Israel.

Miri Weissman made aliyah from the US in 2020. She performed her national service as a tour guide at Mount Herzl and is currently studying political science and communications at Bar-Ilan University with a practicum at Israel Hayom. She has contributed to various media outlets in Israel.

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Russian forces pounded areas around Kyiv and another Ukrainian city overnight, local officials said on Wednesday, just hours after Moscow pledged to scale back military operations in those places. The shelling further tempered optimism about possible progress in talks aimed at ending the punishing war.

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Russia did not spell out what exactly a reduction in activity would look like, and while the promise initially raised hopes that a path toward ending the bloody war of attrition was at hand, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and others cautioned that the commitments could merely be bluster.

Moscow, meanwhile, reacted coolly Wednesday to Kyiv's proposed framework for a peace deal, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying it was a "positive factor" that Ukraine has submitted its written proposals but adding that he saw no breakthrough.

The British Defense Ministry said heavy losses have forced some Russian units to return to Belarus and Russia to regroup but that Moscow would likely compensate for any reduction in ground maneuvers by using mass artillery and missile barrages. And the Russian military reported a new series of missile strikes on Ukrainian arsenals and fuel depots over the past 24 hours.

As the war unleashed five weeks ago by Moscow ground on, so, too, did the fallout beyond Ukraine's borders. The United Nations said the number of refugees fleeing the country has now surpassed a staggering 4 million, while European industrial powerhouse Germany issued a warning over its natural gas supplies amid concerns that Russia could cut off deliveries unless it is paid in rubles.

Zelenskyy reacted with skepticism to Russia's announcement at talks in Istanbul on Tuesday that it would reduce military activity near the capital and the northern city of Chernihiv.

"We can call those signals that we hear at the negotiations positive," he said in his nightly video address to the Ukrainian people. "But those signals don't silence the explosions of Russian shells."

That skepticism appeared well placed by Wednesday morning.

"The so-called reduction of activity in the Chernihiv region, was demonstrated by the enemy strikes including air strikes on Nizhyn, and all night long they were shelling Chernihiv," said the regional governor, Viacheslav Chaus. "Civilian infrastructure facilities, libraries, shopping centers, many houses were destroyed in Chernihiv."

Oleksandr Pavliuk, the head of the Kyiv region military administration, said Wednesday that Russian shells targeted residential areas and civilian infrastructure in the Bucha, Brovary and Vyshhorod regions around the capital.

They weren't the only attacks by Moscow.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Wednesday that the military targeted fuel depots in two towns in central Ukraine with air-launched long-range cruise missiles. Russian forces also hit a Ukrainian special forces headquarters in the southern Mykolaiv region, he said, and two ammunition depots in the eastern Donetsk region.

Donetsk is in the eastern industrial heartland of Donbas, where the Russian military says it has shifted its focus. Top Russian military officials have said twice in recent days that their main goal now is the "liberation" of Donbas, where Moscow-backed rebels have been battling Ukrainian forces since 2014.

Some analysts have suggested that the Kremlin's apparent lowering of its aims and the pledge to reduce activity around Kyiv and Chernihiv may merely reflect the reality on the ground: Its ground troops have become bogged down and taken heavy losses in their bid to seize the capital and other cities.

Still, the outlines of a possible deal to end the war came into view at the latest round of talks Tuesday in Istanbul.

Ukraine's delegation offered a detailed framework for a peace deal under which a neutral Ukraine's security would be guaranteed by a group of third countries, including the US, Britain, France, Turkey, China and Poland. Among other things, the Kremlin has demanded all along that Ukraine drop any hope of joining NATO.

Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky said negotiators would take them to Russian President Vladimir Putin and then Moscow would provide a response, but he did not say when.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said Moscow would in the meantime "fundamentally ... cut back military activity in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv" to "increase mutual trust and create conditions for further negotiations."

The talks had been expected to resume on Wednesday, but with what Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called "meaningful" progress made, the two sides decided to return home for consultations.

Despite the apparent signs of progress, Zelenskyy warned the world and his own people not to get ahead of themselves.

"Ukrainians are not naïve people," he said. "Ukrainians have already learned during the 34 days of the invasion and during the past eight years of war in the Donbas that you can trust only concrete results."

Western countries also expressed doubts about Russia's intentions.

"We judge the Russian military machine by its actions, not just its words," British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab told Sky News on Wednesday. "There's obviously some skepticism that it will regroup to attack again rather than seriously engaging in diplomacy."

He added that "of course the door to diplomacy will always be left ajar, but I don't think you can trust what is coming out of the mouth of Putin's war machine."

An assessment from Britain's Ministry of Defense said that Russia's focus on the Donbas region "is likely a tacit admission that it is struggling to sustain more than one significant axis of advance."

"Russian units suffering heavy losses have been forced to return to Belarus and Russia to reorganize and resupply," the ministry said in a statement Wednesday. "Such activity is placing further pressure on Russia's already strained logistics and demonstrates the difficulties Russia is having reorganizing its units in forward areas within Ukraine."

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the US has detected small numbers of Russian ground forces moving away from the Kyiv area, but it appeared to be a repositioning of forces, "not a real withdrawal."

In response to Moscow's pledge, US President Joe Biden and his secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said they would wait to see what Russia's actions are.

Blinken added that Russian indications of a pullback could be an attempt to "deceive people and deflect attention."

It wouldn't be the first time. In the tense buildup to the invasion, the Russian military announced some units were loading equipment onto rail cars and preparing to return to their home bases after completing exercises. At the time, Putin signaled interest in diplomacy. But 10 days later, Russia launched its invasion.

Western officials say Moscow is now reinforcing troops in the Donbas in a bid to encircle Ukraine's forces there. And Russia's deadly siege in the south continues, with civilians trapped in the ruins of Mariupol and other devastated cities. The latest satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showed hundreds of people waiting outside a grocery store in besieged Mariupol amid reports of food and water shortages.

Even as negotiators gathered Tuesday, Putin's forces blasted a gaping hole in a nine-story government administration building in a strike on the southern port city of Mykolaiv, killing at least 14 people, emergency authorities said.

"It's terrible. They waited for people to go to work" before striking the building, said regional governor Vitaliy Kim. "I overslept. I'm lucky."

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Meanwhile, Russia said on Tuesday it was expelling 10 diplomats from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in a tit-for-tat move after the Baltic countries expelled Russian diplomats over military action in Ukraine earlier in the month.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it summoned the ambassadors of the three EU and NATO member countries and "strongly protested" the "unjustified" expulsion of Russian diplomats.

"Based on the principle of reciprocity", Moscow will be expelling four diplomats from the Lithuanian embassy and three each from the Latvian and Estonian embassies, the ministry added.

Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, a growing list of states have moved to expel Moscow's envoys from their countries, citing allegations of espionage. On Tuesday, EU countries Belgium, the Netherlands and Ireland also announced the expulsion of dozens of Russian diplomats suspected of spying.

Ireland Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said in an official statement posted to Twitter that "four senior officials have been asked to leave the state" for engaging in activities which are "not... in accordance with international standards of diplomatic behavior."

He said that the decision was made "in the interests of our citizens" and to additionally ensure future diplomatic communications between Ireland and Russia.

Coveney also spoke of Ireland's "strong views" on Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, and condemned the war as "a serious breach of international law."

Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes also said that Belgium would remove 21 Russian diplomats – joining the nearby Netherlands, which will oust 17 of Moscow's envoys.

Poland announced last week that it expelled 45 envoys from Russia over suspected espionage.

The US also said back in February that it would oust 12 staff on Russia's mission to the United Nations for spying.

The decision later prompted Russia's Foreign Ministry to respond in kind – last week, Moscow provided a top Washington envoy with a list of US diplomats to be expelled from the country over the UN move.

i24NEWS contributed to this report.

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According to a poll by the Ratings Sociological Group published Sunday, 70% of Ukrainians believe that their military will win against Russian forces.

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The poll asked 2,000 Ukrainians over the age of 18, except those in the occupied Donetsk and Luhansk regions and in Crimea, and found that 91% support the actions of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Of those asked, 16% were unsure of the victory and 15% remained neutral.

Among those expressing belief that Ukraine would win, 47% said they were absolutely sure of a military victory and 23% they were only "rather" confident.

"The level of faith in our own armed forces has increased significantly over the past week. There is no predominance of pessimistic sentiments in any region," said the group that conducted the poll.

Areas maintaining the highest level of confidence in Ukraine's military are in the west and the center, with 75-78%, whereas it is slightly lower in the south and the east at between 64-66%.

Only 6% of those asked did not support the Ukrainian president's actions and 3% could not answer.

"Across Ukraine, pessimistic sentiment is low and the level of faith in Ukraine's armed forces has grown significantly," The Kyiv Independent reported, noting that Zelenskyy's approval rating is three times what it was in December 2021.

i24NEWS contributed to this report.

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Prime Minister Naftali Bennett addressed Russia's incursion into Ukraine on Thursday.

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Speaking at a graduation ceremony for members of an IDF officers training course, Bennett said, "These are difficult, tragic times, and our heart is with the citizens of Ukraine who have found themselves in this situation through no fault of their own."

Bennett said that Israel was serving as an "anchor" of strength, stability, security and hope in a region "full of threats and challenges."

"Every Israeli always knows they have a home to come back to, that there is someone who will look out for them in times of trouble," the prime minister said.

Bennett urged Israelis in Ukraine to "leave now."

"Our people are waiting to receive you at border crossings in the west of the country. In addition, every Jew, anywhere in the world, knows that we are waiting for them here and that Israel's door is always open," he said, adding that Israel would join humanitarian efforts to ease the suffering of Ukrainian citizens.

Bennett told the newly minted IDF officers that they were beginning their roles as officials as "our world order is changing. The world is much less stable, and our region is also changing from day to day. These times teach us that wars fought between armies are not, unfortunately, a thing of the past."

By Thursday evening, Ukrainian forces were battling Russian invaders around nearly all of the country's perimeter on Thursday after Moscow mounted a mass assault by land, sea and air in the biggest attack on a European state since World War II.

Missiles rained down on Ukrainian targets. Kyiv reported columns of troops pouring across the borders with Russia and Belarus stretching from the north and east, and landing on the coasts from the Black Sea in the southwest and Azov Sea in the southeast.

Russia treacherously attacked our state in the morning, as Nazi Germany did in #2WW years. As of today, our countries are on different sides of world history. has embarked on a path of evil, but is defending itself & won't give up its freedom no matter what Moscow thinks.

— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 24, 2022

Fierce fighting was taking place in the regions of Sumy and Kharkiv in the northeast, Kherson and Odessa in the south, and at a military airport near the capital Kyiv, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said troops were trying to fend off Russians attempting to capture the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, just 90 km (60 miles) north of the capital. Regional officials said Ukrainian authorities had lost control of some territory in the Kherson region near Russian-occupied Crimea.

After Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war in a pre-dawn televised address, explosions and gunfire were heard throughout the morning in Kyiv, a city of 3 million people.

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The highway out of the city choked with traffic as residents fled.

"Russia treacherously attacked our state in the morning, as Nazi Germany did in the WW2 years," tweeted Zelenskyy.

"Russia has embarked on a path of evil, but Ukraine is defending itself & won't give up its freedom no matter what Moscow thinks," Zelenskyy's tweet continued.

A senior US defense official says Thursday's attack by Russia appeared to be the first phase in what will likely be a multiple phased, large-scale invasion.

The official said it began around 9:30 p.m. US eastern time, with land- and sea-based missile launches. The official said that roughly more than 100 missiles, primarily short-range ballistic missiles, but also medium-range ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, surface-to-air missiles and sea-launched missiles, were launched in the first few hours of the attack.

The official said it was not clear how many Russian troops were in Ukraine now, and the main targets of the air assault have been barracks, ammunition warehouses, and 10 airfields. The official said Russian ground forces began to move in to Ukraine from Belarus around 5 a.m. Eastern time.

As the fighting intensified, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Thursday that civilians and critical infrastructure such as water and power systems in Ukraine must be protected from attacks in line with the rules of war.

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