As they leave the Ukrainian capital, Russian troops create a “catastrophic” situation for civilians by leaving mines around houses, abandoned equipment and ” even the bodies of the dead, ”warned Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukraine and its Western allies report mounting evidence already Russia removed its soldiers around kyiv and that it is strengthening them in eastern ukraine.
Ukrainian fighters recaptured some areas near the capital after forcing Russians to exit or enter after their withdrawal, authorities said.
The apparent change does not mean that the country will receive temporary relief after more than five weeks of war or that the more than 4 million refugees who fled Ukraine will soon return.
Zelenski expects that the displaced populations are likely to be attacked from the air and by distant cannons and that the battle will be fierce in the east of the country.
Destruction and rubble after Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s Kharkov city, on Saturday. Photo: AFP
message to the countrythe
“It is still not possible to return to normal life, as before, even in the territories we recovered after the fighting,” the country’s president said in a video. “We have to wait until our territory is demined, wait until we make sure there are no new attacks,” he warned.
Moscow’s focus on eastern Ukraine also keeps the besieged southern city of Mariupol in its sights. The port city on the Sea of Azov is in the Russian -speaking Donbas region, where Russian -backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian troops for eight years.
Military analysts believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to expand his control there after his troops failed to capture kyiv and other major cities.
Rescue in Mariupol
The International Committee of the Red Cross planned on Saturday to deliver emergency supplies to Mariupol and evacuate some of its residents.
The Red Cross said it was unable to carry out the operation on Friday because did not get guarantees that the route was safe. Municipal authorities said the Russians had blocked access to the city.
Residents of Mariúpol, aboard buses from which they fled from the ruined city. Photo: AFP
Mariupol, which was surrounded by Russian forces last month, has suffered some of the war’s worst attacks, including a maternity hospital and a theater where civilians can be seen. About 100,000 people are believed to remain in the pre-war city with 430,000, facing severe shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine.
Taking the city would give Moscow a continuous land bridge from Russia to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula it took in 2014, but also had symbolic meaning during the Russian invasion, said Volodimir Fesenko, director of the Penta center, which researches Ukraine.
“Mariupol has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance and without its occupation, Putin still would not have sat at the negotiating table,” Fesenko added.
The Mariupol city council said on Saturday that 10 empty buses were heading to Berdyansk, a city 84 kilometers west of Mariupol, to pick up residents. About 2,000 people left Mariupol on Friday, some by bus and others in their own vehicles, city officials said.
Zelensky’s adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said in an interview with a Russian lawyer and activist Mark Feygin, that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to allow 45 buses to reach Mariupol and evict residents “in the coming day. ” .
By Nebi Qena and Yuras Karmanau, AP Agency
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Source: Clarin
