Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky warned his nation Sunday night that the coming week will be as decisive as any other in the war, adding in a nightly address that he expects Russian troops to “move even larger operations to the east of our country.” country ‘.
Experts say the next phase of the battle could begin with a full-scale offensive that could begin in days. The result could determine the course of the conflict, which leveled cities, killed countless thousands and isolated Moscow economically and politically.
The Russian military is believed to be preparing for a major, targeted push to expand control in the east of the country. Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces in the eastern Donbass region since 2014 and have declared part of the territory there independent.
Zelensky accused Russia of trying to avoid responsibility for war crimes. “The day will come when they will have to admit everything. Accept the truth,” he said.
“When people lack the courage to admit their mistakes, apologize, adapt to reality and learn, they become monsters. And when the world ignores it, the monsters decide that the world must adapt to them. Ukraine will stop all this. “
A woman walks past a residential building damaged by shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Sunday. (Andrew Marienko / Associated Press)
Questions remain about the ability of Russia’s exhausted and demoralized forces to conquer many territories after their advance on the capital Kyiv was repulsed by staunch Ukrainian defenders.
The British Ministry of Defense said on Sunday that Russian forces were trying to compensate for the growing casualties, recalling veterans fired over the past decade.
However, Western military analysts say Russia’s attack is increasingly focused on the crescent-shaped arc of eastern Ukraine, from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city in the north to Kherson in the south.
Closer efforts could ease Russia’s problem, earlier in the war, by spreading its offensive too widely over too large a geographical area.
The bombing continues
On Sunday, Russian forces fired on government-controlled Kharkiv and sent reinforcements to Izyum in the southeast in an attempt to break through Ukraine’s defenses, Ukraine’s military command said.
The Russians also continued the siege of Mariupol, a key southern port city that had been attacked and surrounded for nearly 1 month.
Natalia Titova shows the damage to her house from the Russian shelling in Chernihiv, Ukraine, on Sunday. (Zohra Benzema / Reuters)
Russian forces destroyed an airport and wounded at least five people while firing rockets at Ukraine’s fourth-largest city, the Dnieper, on Sunday, a Ukrainian official said.
Valentin Reznichenko, governor of the central Dnipropetrovsk region, which includes the Dnieper, said the airport had been hit twice.
Russia’s Defense Ministry says its missiles have hit Ukraine’s S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems in two places, while naval cruise missiles have destroyed the headquarters of a Ukrainian unit in the Dnieper region.
The military claims of neither side could be verified independently.
WATCH The Ukrainian MP describes visits to Bucha and Borodyanka, where civilian killings took place. Warning: This video contains graphics:
The Ukrainian MP reports on visits to cities where civilian killings have taken place
WARNING: This video contains graphic details about violence and sexual abuse and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it. Ukrainian lawmaker Kira Rudyk describes her visits to Bucha and Borodyanka, cities that were recently occupied by Russian forces and where civilian killings took place. 7:39
New details on war crimes investigations
Ukraine’s chief prosecutor said on Sunday that her team had documented 5,600 cases of war crimes committed by the Russian government and its leading figures since the invasion began on February 24th.
Speaking to Britain’s Sky News, Irina Venediktov said Ukraine had identified 500 suspects, including “senior” Russian military, politicians and “propaganda agents”.
She added that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “a major war criminal of the 21st century”, but in accordance with international law, while the Russian president is in power, he enjoys diplomatic immunity and cannot be prosecuted unless the initiative was taken over by the International Criminal Court.
Rescuers carried the body of a man found in the rubble of a destroyed apartment building in Borodyanka, Ukraine, on Saturday. (Alexei Furman / Getty Images)
The Prosecutor General’s Office is investigating several mass casualties of civilians as possible war crimes.
Venediktov said on Saturday that the European Union was involved in the investigation.
Speaking to Sky News, Pascal Hund, head of the delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ukraine, said the aid convoy had made many unsuccessful attempts to reach the besieged city of Mariupol, where fierce fighting continues.
Hund described the security situation in Mariupol as “dangerous”, with aid workers having to go through multiple checkpoints to reach the city, and without guarantees of their safety.
WATCH The missiles hit the station of Ukraine, the Kremlin denies responsibility. Warning: This video contains graphics:
The missiles hit the station of Ukraine, the Kremlin denies responsibility
WARNING: This video contains graphics Dozens were killed after two rockets hit crowded crowds at a station used to evacuate refugees in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk. The Kremlin has denied the attack, saying its military has no access to the weapons used. 2:36
Venediktov called the rocket attack on a train station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, an “absolute” war crime on Friday. The strike killed at least 52 people and injured more than 100 others as civilians evacuated from the Donetsk region.
Russia has denied responsibility and accused the Ukrainian military of firing on the station to blame Moscow for the civilian casualties. A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry described in detail the trajectory of the missile and the positions of Ukrainian troops to support the argument.
Meanwhile, the RCMP on Sunday released more details of its national investigation into allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine, which it announced on Thursday.
In a tweet, Mounties said the information provided to their investigation “will be protected and will only be used for investigation and future prosecutions. This will not affect your immigration status.”
The information you provide to the RCMP’s investigation into allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine will be protected and will only be used for investigations and future prosecutions. This will not affect your immigration status. pic.twitter.com/AtxjSp6xwp
– @Nat_Div_RCMP
On Thursday, the RCMP said it would gather information and evidence from Ukrainians entering Canada who wish to provide it, hoping to use the information in future criminal investigations, according to a statement from the Canadian War Crimes Program partners.
Ukraine detains men trying to leave the country
The Border Guard Agency of Ukraine reported that about 2,200 Ukrainian men of military age have been detained so far in an attempt to leave the country in violation of martial law.
The agency said on Sunday that some of them had used false documents, while others had tried to bribe border guards to leave the country.
It says some of them were found dead while trying to cross the Carpathians in bad weather, without specifying the number.
Under martial law, Ukrainian men between the ages of 18 and 60 are barred from leaving the country in order to be called up to fight.
The aggression is not limited to Ukraine, Zelensky said
Zelenski said late Saturday that democracies are united in their efforts to stem the Russian invasion as civilians continue to flee the eastern part of the country before an expected attack.
In a daily late-night video address to Ukrainians, Zelensky said “Russian aggression is not meant to be limited to Ukraine” and that “the whole European project is a target for Russia.”
A rocket lays in a pool of water near a grazing cow in the village of Lukashivka in northern Ukraine on Sunday. (Anastasia Vlasova / Getty Images)
Several European leaders have made efforts to show solidarity with the battle-torn nation. Zelensky thanked the leaders of Britain and Austria for their Saturday visits to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, and pledges for further support.
The visit of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson came a day after the United Kingdom promised an additional $ 163 million in high-quality military equipment. Johnson also reaffirmed additional economic support, securing an additional $ 628.3 million in World Bank loans to Ukraine, bringing Britain’s total loan guarantee to $ 1.25 billion.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, right, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson take a walk during a meeting in central Kyiv on Saturday. (Office of the President of Ukraine / Associated Press)
Zelensky also thanked European Commission President and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a global fundraising event that brought in more than $ 13.6 billion in Cdn for Ukrainians fleeing their homes.
The Ukrainian leader reiterated his call for a full embargo on Russian oil and gas, which he called sources of “self-confidence and impunity” for Russia.
“Freedom has no time to wait,” Zelenski said. “When tyranny begins its aggression against everything that keeps the peace in Europe, action must be taken immediately.
More than six weeks after the invasion, Russia withdrew its troops from …
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