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Russian forces accelerated their withdrawal from northern Ukraine on Saturday, following several weeks of bombing and fighting that left an apocalyptic scene, with macabre pictures such as twenty corpses scattered on a street in Bucha, near kyiv, which accused the troops of Moscow for having committed innumerable war crimes.
In the south, the Red Cross is multiplying efforts to evacuate thousands of people trapped in the port of Mariupol, lacking food, water and electricity.
Russian forces, as announced a few days ago, have reduced their presence in the kyiv and Chernigov regions in the north, following having failed in their attempt to surround the capital.
Now they seem to be concentrating their efforts on the east and south, five weeks following the start of the invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24.
“With the rapid withdrawal of the Russians from kyiv and Chernigov, it is quite clear that Russia chose another tactic,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhailo Podoliak wrote on Telegram.
That tactic consists of “retreating to the east and south, maintaining control of vast occupied territories and gaining a powerful foothold there,” Podoliak added, echoing a warning issued by President Volodimir Zelensky.
The Russian withdrawal from the north made it possible to verify the devastation left by the war. In Bucha, northwest of the capital, the bodies of at least 20 people in civilian clothes were scattered on a single street in the city. One of the corpses had his hands tied behind his back, Agence France Presse reporters confirmed. The bodies were scattered over several hundred meters, without the cause of death being known so far.
The fighting and bombardment left an apocalyptic scene, with huge holes in residential buildings and smashed cars in various parts of the city.
In addition to regaining control around kyiv, Ukrainian troops are advancing in the southern region of Kherson, the only one of importance that Russia has managed to occupy. “We certainly cannot avoid using heavy weapons if we want to liberate the east and Kherson, and push the Russians as far away as possible,” Podoliak said.
War crimes. The International Criminal Court has already opened an investigation for possible war crimes in Ukraine. In an interview published yesterday by a Swiss newspaper, former war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said that court should issue an arrest warrant once morest Putin, whom she called a “war criminal.”
According to the UN, more than 4 million refugees have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion and in total there are more than 10 million displaced.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it sent a team to Mariupol to evacuate civilians, following a failed attempt on Friday, because “conditions made it impossible to proceed” with the operation. Mariupol, on the shores of the Sea of Azov, has endured weeks of fierce Russian bombardment, with at least 5,000 residents dead, according to local authorities, and 160,000 people trapped in the ruined city.
“We have managed to rescue 6,266 people, including 3,071 from Mariupol,” President Volodimir Zelensky said in a video message yesterday morning. Dozens of buses carrying villagers fleeing the devastation in Mariupol arrived in Zaporizhia, some 200 kilometers to the northwest, on Friday.
“We cried when we got to this area. We cried when we saw the soldiers at the checkpoint with Ukrainian emblems on their arms,” said Olena, who was carrying her little daughter in her arms. “My house was destroyed, I saw it in photos. Our city no longer exists,” she added.
New US aid. Peace talks between Ukrainian and Russian authorities continued on Friday via video, although the Kremlin warned that a Ukrainian helicopter attack on a fuel depot in the Russian town of Belgorod would affect negotiations.
kyiv refused to claim responsibility for that attack. Asked by the US network Fox News, Zelensky said: “I’m sorry, I do not dispute any of my orders as commander in chief.”
According to the British Ministry of Defense, the attack in Belgorod and reports of explosions in ammunition depots near that city would exacerbate Russia’s supply problems.
Zelensky reiterated his call for more military support from Western powers.
“Give us missiles, give us planes,” Zelensky implored on Fox. “Can’t you give us F-18s or F-19s or whatever you got? Give us old Soviet planes. That’s it. Give me something to defend my country.”
The Pentagon later said it would allocate $300 million in “security aid” to bolster Ukraine’s defense, in addition to the $1.6 billion it announced since the start of the Russian offensive.
The package includes laser-guided rocket systems, drones, ammunition, night vision devices, tactical communications systems, medical equipment and spare parts.
Plummeting economies. Russia faces Western sanctions that have prompted multinational companies to leave the country. According to Western analysts, the Russian economy will suffer a 10% collapse this year.
China, a close partner of Russia, denied helping it “deliberately” circumvent Western sanctions, a day following the European Union warned that any support from Beijing to Moscow would harm its economic relations with Europe.
The Ukrainian economy is also suffering from the devastating effects of the war: its GDP plummeted 16% in the first quarter of the year compared to the last quarter of 2021, according to estimates by the Ministry of Economy. Both Russia and Ukraine are major agricultural and commodity producers, and their collapse is causing a sharp rise in inflation around the world.
