Majority of Germans back peacekeeping force – DW – 01/02/2025

At least one person was killed in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, local authorities said, following a Russian bomb attack on the village of Stepnohirsk.

The village lies just a few kilometers from the front line and comes amid an escalation of aerial attacks that claimed two lives in Kyiv on New Year’s Day.

“A five-story building was destroyed. A man was killed. Rescuers removed his body from under the rubble,” Zaporizhzhia’s Ukrainian governor Ivan Fedorov wrote on Telegram.

Zaporizhzhia, home to one of Ukraine’s key nuclear power plants, has been the scene of fierce fighting for years. The regional capital, Zaporizhzhia city, is still under Ukrainian control. However, authorities fear that Russia is planning a fresh offensive to take the city.

A YouGov survey carried out on behalf of German news agency dpa found that 56% of participants supported the creation of an international peacekeeping force in Ukraine if a ceasefire is achieved in the conflict. 

However, respondents were less keen on direct German involvement in the war, with only 23% in favor of German soldiers being part of such a peacekeeping force.

About 33% fully opposed German participation, and 19% were completely against the creation of any kind of peacekeeping force.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and there are no signs that a sustainable ceasefire between the two countries will be enacted anytime soon. US President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office on January 20, has vowed to end the conflict during his term, but has not outlined concrete steps on how this would be achieved.  

es/wd (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)