© KEYSTONE/AP/Vadim Ghirda
The vice tightened Friday on Kiev, where the Russian army seeks to “block” the Ukrainian capital transformed into a “fortress” by its inhabitants. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Moscow of targeting civilians fleeing the fighting.
After reaching the outskirts of Kiev, the Russian army tries to eliminate the Ukrainian defenses in several localities to the west and north of the capital – in Andriivka, Kopyliv, Motyzhyne, Bouzova, Horenytchi, Boutcha and Demydiv – for the “block”, explained the night of Thursday to Friday the Ukrainian staff.
“A movement of Russian troops” towards Brovary, east of Kiev, is also “not excluded”, he specified. If there are just under two million inhabitants in the capital – half of its population having fled since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 – the city of “Kiev has turned into a fortress” , hammered the mayor, Vitali Klitschko. “Every street, every building, every checkpoint has been fortified,” he said.
Dantesque situation
In the south-east of the country, the Russian army “concentrates its efforts” on Severodonetsk and on the besieged city of Mariupol, a strategic port on the Sea of Azov, according to the Ukrainian general staff. The Russian air force targeted residential areas there “every 30 minutes” on Thursday, “killing civilians, the elderly, women and children”, detailed the mayor, Vadim Boïtchenko, in a video.
A representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) described a terrible situation in this city, where the inhabitants are deprived of electricity, water and gas: “People have started to fight for food. Others destroyed another person’s car to get the gasoline out of it,” said Sasha Volkov in an audio recording sent to the media.
The city’s children’s hospital was targeted by bombing on Wednesday, killing three, according to the town hall, and sparking a wave of international condemnation.
Fighting also continues for control of Cherniguiv (north), Kharkiv (northeast) and the port of Mykolaiv (south), notes the Ukrainian general staff, noting that Moscow has tried “to start an offensive” to the big cities of Zaporozhye and Krivoy Rog.
“Arrested, demoralized”
“The Russian occupiers are arrested, demoralized and suffer heavy losses,” he said. For the British Ministry of Defence, the “increasing number” of Russian troops engaged in “encircling strategic towns […] will further slow down Russian progress,” he tweeted.
After the first high-level talks between the belligerents since February 24 – which were held in Turkey on Thursday without reaching a ceasefire – Moscow has promised the daily opening of humanitarian corridors to allow Ukrainians fleeing the fighting to win Russia.
But Ukraine, where the population of towns besieged by Russian troops lives in hiding due to the bombardments, is calling for the establishment within its borders of secure passages to evacuate civilians.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Russian army of preventing evacuations of civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha (southeast) and of carrying out an attack on the planned route of a humanitarian corridor.
“Terror assumed”
“The Russian troops did not stop firing. Despite everything, I decided to send a convoy of vehicles to Mariupol, with food, water, medicine […] But the occupiers launched a tank attack exactly where this corridor was supposed to pass,” he said, in a video released by the presidency. “It is assumed terror, brazen terror, on the part of experienced terrorists,” he said.
Some 100,000 people have left other Ukrainian cities plagued by fighting in the past two days, including 40,000 people on Thursday alone, via humanitarian corridors, the leader said.
The war in Ukraine has thrown more than 2.3 million people on the roads, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Faced with this situation, the American Congress adopted a new federal budget on Thursday, including a staggering envelope of nearly 14 billion dollars for the Ukrainian crisis.
These funds are supposed to allow Ukraine to protect its electricity network, fight cyberattacks and equip itself with defensive weapons. The package also includes over $2.6 billion in humanitarian assistance and over $1 billion to support refugees.
The UN Security Council must meet on Friday at 5:00 p.m. at the request of Moscow, on the supposed manufacture of biological weapons in Ukraine, categorically denied by Mr. Zelensky.
