Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated allegations that Moscow was “massacred” in the Donbass, saying its bombing could leave the entire region “uninhabited”.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated allegations that Moscow was “massacred” in the Donbass, saying its bombing could leave the entire region “uninhabited”.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, was devastated by deadly Russian shelling on May 27 when Moscow further bombed residential areas to capture key points in the eastern Donbass region. Kharkiv’s pounding, which according to local officials killed at least nine people, raised fears that Russia had not lost interest in the city even after Ukraine regained control after fierce fighting.
Three months after Russia launched its offensive on February 24 – and which left thousands on both sides and displaced millions of Ukrainian civilians – Moscow failed in its initial ambition to capture Kyiv in Ukraine’s east. focusing on.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterates allegations that Moscow is committing “genocide” in Russia donbasssaying that its bombardment could “exile” the entire region.
Oleg Sinegubov, the regional governor of Kharkiv, north of the Donbass region, said on Thursday nine civilians had been killed in Russian shelling. He said on social media channels that a five-month-old baby and his father were among the dead, while his mother was seriously injured.
One AFP The city correspondent said the northern residential district of Pavlov Pol was affected and smoke billowed from the area. The journalist saw several people getting injured near a closed shopping centre, while an elderly man with injuries to his arms and legs was taken to the doctor.
Kharkiv Mayor Igor Terekhov said the northeastern city’s metro, which was used mainly as a shelter this week, had resumed work. russian invasion, Operations will continue, but will also provide a safe space for residents.
In the Donbass, Russian forces were closing in on several cities, including the strategically located Severodonetsk and Lisichansk, which stand on the important route to Kramatorsk, Ukraine’s eastern administrative center. Pro-Russian separatists said they had captured the city of Lyman, which lies between Severodonetsk and Kramatorsk, and on the road leading to major cities still under Kyiv control.
Lugansk regional governor Sergei Gede said in a telegram video that at least five civilians had been killed in the Lugansk region – part of the Donbass – in the past 24 hours.
Accusing Russia of “relentlessly shelling residential areas”, he said four people had died in Severodonetsk and another in Komyshovkha, 50KM (30 miles) outside Severodonetsk. In Kramatorsk, children wandered among the rubble left behind by Russian attacks as the sound of artillery fire intensified.
“I am not afraid,” said Yevgen, a sad-looking 13-year-old who had moved with his mother to Kramatorsk from the ruins of their village of Galyana. “I’m used to the shelling,” he declared as he sat alone on a slab of a destroyed apartment block.
Commentators believe that Russia’s gains in the more than three-month war have been weaker than President Vladimir Putin expected, although Moscow regained control of a handful of cities in southern Ukraine such as Kherson and Mariupol Is.
The Kremlin is now trying to tighten its grip on parts of Ukraine it occupied, including fast-tracking citizenship for residents of areas under Russian control.
According to Kyiv, the occupying authorities in Mariupol – which this month was taken over by invading forces after a disastrous siege that killed thousands and reduced the city to rubble – prepared to switch students to Russian courses. To cancel the school holidays.
Intensifying fighting across the country prompted Foreign Minister Dimitro Kuleba to vent Kyiv’s growing frustration with the West, accusing the Allies of dragging their feet on arms deliveries and telling his German counterpart that Ukraine should be “soon” Soon” heavy weapons are required.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, whose country is Bidding for NATO Membership In response to its giant neighbor’s invasion of Ukraine, he said a visit to Kyiv would take Russia decades to improve its position in the world. “Trust has been lost for the generation,” Ms Marin said at a news conference.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who faced criticism over Berlin’s slow response, also weighed in on Thursday, saying Mr Putin would not seriously negotiate until he learned he could not win in Ukraine. “Our goal is very clear – Mr. Putin should not win this war. And I believe he will not win it,” Mr. Scholz told the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The flow of grain exports from Ukraine, known as Europe’s breadbasket, has been disrupted since Russia’s invasion, threatening food security around the world and raising prices. The Kremlin pointed a finger at Western countries on Thursday for blocking grain-carrying ships from leaving ports in Ukraine – dismissing allegations that Russia was to blame.
President Putin said in a telephone call with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi that Moscow is ready to make a “significant contribution” to avert an imminent food crisis if the West lifts the sanctions imposed on his country on Ukraine. . But the United States ridiculed the proposal, with Pentagon spokesman John Kirby accusing Moscow of “weaponizing economic aid.”