LVIV: Conflict raging in the northwest of Kyiv Other cities were besieged on Saturday, with Ukrainian officials saying heavy shelling and threats of Russian air strikes were jeopardizing the evacuation effort.
Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk said the government planned to use humanitarian corridors agreed with the southern port city of Mariupol, as well as towns and villages in Kyiv, Sumy and some other regions.
But the governor of the Kyiv region said fighting and threats of Russian airstrikes continued during evacuation efforts, and the governor of the Donetsk region said continued shelling was complicating bringing aid to Mariupol.
United Nations The humanitarian office said those trapped in Mariupol were desperate.
“There are reports of looting and violent clashes between civilians in the city over low basic supplies,” the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. “Medicines for life-threatening diseases are rapidly running out, hospitals are only partially functioning, and food and water supplies are running short.”
An adviser to the Ukrainian president had earlier said that 79 evacuation buses and two trucks with humanitarian cargo left for Sumy on Saturday. Buses and trucks also left zapsorizia As for Mariupol, social media showed a video released by the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration.
The city council said in an online statement on Friday that at least 1,582 civilians have been killed in Mariupol as a result of Russian shelling and a 12-day blockade. It was not possible to confirm the casualty figures.
Local media reported that air strike sirens sounded in most Ukrainian cities on Saturday morning and urged people to seek shelter.
Russian President Vladimir Putin The offensive launched on 24 February in an operation that was almost universally condemned around the world and which imposed harsh Western sanctions on Russia.
The bombing has trapped thousands of people in besieged cities and sent 2.5 million Ukrainians to flee to neighboring countries.
The tired-looking governor of Chernihiv, about 150 km (100 miles) northeast of Kiev, gave a video update in front of the ruins of his Ukraine hotel, which he said was killed on Saturday.
“There is no such hotel now,” said Viacheslav Chaus, wiping tears from his eyes. “But Ukraine still exists, and it will prevail.”
Russian rocket attacks destroyed a Ukrainian airbase and hit an ammunition depot near the city of Vasilkiv in the Kyiv region on Saturday morning, Interfax Ukraine quoted Vasilkiv Mayor Natalia Balsinovich as saying.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said a mosque in Mariupol, where more than 80 people had taken refuge, was shelled, without saying that anyone was killed or injured.
Moscow has denied targeting civilians in what it calls a special campaign to demilitarize Ukraine and oust leaders it refers to as neo-Nazis. It has not responded to Ukrainian challenges to provide evidence.
Ukraine said it expected a new wave of attacks on the capital Kyiv, the country’s second city Kharkiv and areas around the Donbass in the east, where Russian-backed separatists have expanded their control.
Britain’s Defense Ministry said on Friday that Russian forces could launch an attack on the capital Kyiv in a few days. In an update on Saturday, it said fighting continued northwest of the capital, with Russian ground forces 25 km (16 miles) from the center.
It said the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mariupol were under heavy Russian shelling.
Sanctions
Efforts to isolate Russia have intensified, with the United States on Friday imposing new sanctions on senior Kremlin officials and Russian oligarchs.
President of the European Commission from Ursula Leyen said on Saturday the European Union would suspend Moscow’s privileged trade and economic treatment, crack down on the use of crypto-assets, and ban imports of iron and steel goods from Russia, as well as luxury in the other direction. There will also be restrictions on the export of goods.
Moscow said on Saturday that the European Union would pay at least three times more for oil, gas and electricity.
Russian Foreign Ministry official Nikolai Kobrinets told Interfax: “I don’t believe the EU will benefit from this – we have more durable supplies and stronger nerves.”
As the Russian offensive entered its third week, its forces continued to bomb cities across the country on Friday. Satellite images showed him firing artillery as he advanced on Kyiv.
As hundreds shelter in subway stations in Kharkiv, Nastya, a young girl lying on a makeshift bed on the floor of a train carriage said she had been there for more than a week, shivering and becoming ill from a virus. was unable to
“I’m very scared for my house, my friends’ homes, for the whole country, and of course for myself,” she said.
Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk said the government planned to use humanitarian corridors agreed with the southern port city of Mariupol, as well as towns and villages in Kyiv, Sumy and some other regions.
But the governor of the Kyiv region said fighting and threats of Russian airstrikes continued during evacuation efforts, and the governor of the Donetsk region said continued shelling was complicating bringing aid to Mariupol.
United Nations The humanitarian office said those trapped in Mariupol were desperate.
“There are reports of looting and violent clashes between civilians in the city over low basic supplies,” the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. “Medicines for life-threatening diseases are rapidly running out, hospitals are only partially functioning, and food and water supplies are running short.”
An adviser to the Ukrainian president had earlier said that 79 evacuation buses and two trucks with humanitarian cargo left for Sumy on Saturday. Buses and trucks also left zapsorizia As for Mariupol, social media showed a video released by the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential administration.
The city council said in an online statement on Friday that at least 1,582 civilians have been killed in Mariupol as a result of Russian shelling and a 12-day blockade. It was not possible to confirm the casualty figures.
Local media reported that air strike sirens sounded in most Ukrainian cities on Saturday morning and urged people to seek shelter.
Russian President Vladimir Putin The offensive launched on 24 February in an operation that was almost universally condemned around the world and which imposed harsh Western sanctions on Russia.
The bombing has trapped thousands of people in besieged cities and sent 2.5 million Ukrainians to flee to neighboring countries.
The tired-looking governor of Chernihiv, about 150 km (100 miles) northeast of Kiev, gave a video update in front of the ruins of his Ukraine hotel, which he said was killed on Saturday.
“There is no such hotel now,” said Viacheslav Chaus, wiping tears from his eyes. “But Ukraine still exists, and it will prevail.”
Russian rocket attacks destroyed a Ukrainian airbase and hit an ammunition depot near the city of Vasilkiv in the Kyiv region on Saturday morning, Interfax Ukraine quoted Vasilkiv Mayor Natalia Balsinovich as saying.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said a mosque in Mariupol, where more than 80 people had taken refuge, was shelled, without saying that anyone was killed or injured.
Moscow has denied targeting civilians in what it calls a special campaign to demilitarize Ukraine and oust leaders it refers to as neo-Nazis. It has not responded to Ukrainian challenges to provide evidence.
Ukraine said it expected a new wave of attacks on the capital Kyiv, the country’s second city Kharkiv and areas around the Donbass in the east, where Russian-backed separatists have expanded their control.
Britain’s Defense Ministry said on Friday that Russian forces could launch an attack on the capital Kyiv in a few days. In an update on Saturday, it said fighting continued northwest of the capital, with Russian ground forces 25 km (16 miles) from the center.
It said the cities of Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mariupol were under heavy Russian shelling.
Sanctions
Efforts to isolate Russia have intensified, with the United States on Friday imposing new sanctions on senior Kremlin officials and Russian oligarchs.
President of the European Commission from Ursula Leyen said on Saturday the European Union would suspend Moscow’s privileged trade and economic treatment, crack down on the use of crypto-assets, and ban imports of iron and steel goods from Russia, as well as luxury in the other direction. There will also be restrictions on the export of goods.
Moscow said on Saturday that the European Union would pay at least three times more for oil, gas and electricity.
Russian Foreign Ministry official Nikolai Kobrinets told Interfax: “I don’t believe the EU will benefit from this – we have more durable supplies and stronger nerves.”
As the Russian offensive entered its third week, its forces continued to bomb cities across the country on Friday. Satellite images showed him firing artillery as he advanced on Kyiv.
As hundreds shelter in subway stations in Kharkiv, Nastya, a young girl lying on a makeshift bed on the floor of a train carriage said she had been there for more than a week, shivering and becoming ill from a virus. was unable to
“I’m very scared for my house, my friends’ homes, for the whole country, and of course for myself,” she said.