Kyiv, Ukraine – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he discussed the fate of the besieged port city of Mariupol in a meeting Friday with the country’s military leaders and the heads of its intelligence agencies.
“The details cannot be made public, but we are doing everything we can to save our people,” Zelenski said in an evening video address to the nation.
Elsewhere in southern Ukraine, he said Russian troops occupying areas around Kherson and Zaporizhia are terrorizing civilians and searching for anyone who has served in the army or government.
“The occupiers think it will be easier for them to control this territory. But they are very wrong. “They are deluding themselves,” Zelenski said.
He added: “The problem of the occupiers is not that they are not accepted by some activists, veterans or journalists. Russia’s problem is that it has not been accepted – and will never be accepted – by the entire Ukrainian people. Russia lost Ukraine forever.
___
KEY DEVELOPMENT OF THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:
– Police: More than 900 civilian bodies found in the Kiev region
– “We pray for you”: Ukrainian Jews celebrate Easter if they can
– The port of Ukraine Mariupol survives despite all chances
– War Crimes Watch: The woman who will make Putin pay
– The pain of the Ukrainian mother watching the funeral of her daughter on the phone
– Go for more coverage
___
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
ATLANA – CIA Director William Burns says no one can take lightly the threat that Russia could use tactical or low-yield nuclear weapons, but he has seen no “practical evidence” to suggest that it is inevitable.
Speaking to an audience Thursday at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Burns said the “potential desperation” of Russian leaders to claim victory in Ukraine increases the risk of using nuclear weapons.
“None of us can take lightly the threat posed by the potential recourse to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons,” Burns said. “We don’t.”
___
ROME – The war in Ukraine looms over the traditional Good Friday procession at the Colosseum in Rome because the Vatican’s choice of a Russian woman as one of the Crusaders angered Ukrainians.
Participants in the torchlight procession in the ancient arena on Friday night took turns wearing a simple, high and thin cross as part of the commemoration of the suffering and death of Jesus through the crucifixion.
Earlier this week, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Vatican and the archbishop of Kyiv condemned the Vatican’s plan for a Ukrainian woman and a Russian woman to wear the cross together during the march. They objected to the projection of what they saw as an idea of reconciliation, while Ukraine was ravaged by a war unleashed by Russia.
The Vatican did not respond to the protests. Pope Francis denounced the February 24 invasion and attacks on Ukraine as “sacrilege”, but refrained from naming Russia the aggressor.
Other believers applauded the decision to mate the two women. They work together in the palliative care department of a hospital in Rome and are friends.
___
BELGRADE, Serbia – Hundreds of protesters joined a right-wing rally in support of Russia, wearing photos of Vladimir Putin and T-shirts with the letter “Z”, which has become a symbol of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Friday’s rally in central Belgrade was a protest against Serbia’s vote last week at the United Nations in support of Russia’s expulsion from the UN Human Rights Council.
Serbia remains the only country in Europe that has not imposed sanctions on Russia, but right-wing groups are angry that Belgrade is voting against Moscow at the UN
Local media reported that masked protesters set fire to flares and smoke bombs in front of Serbian President Alexander Vucic’s office during the protest and hoisted a Russian flag on the presidency building.
Several similar protests have taken place in Serbia since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Many Serbs remain loyal to Russia, convinced that Moscow was provoked by the West to launch the invasion.
Anti-Western sentiment in Serbia stems from NATO’s 1999 air war, which forced Belgrade to relinquish control of Kosovo. Belgrade enjoyed Russian support in trying to maintain its claims to the territory, which declared Western-backed independence in 2008.
___
The governor of the Kharkiv region said that seven people, including a seven-month-old child, were killed in a shelling of a residential area in the city.
Oleh Sinehubov said in a Telegram post on Friday that another 34 people were injured.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, was hit hard by shelling and rocket attacks during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The city’s location about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of Russia and 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Ukraine’s separatist regions gives it significant strategic importance.
___
A senior U.S. defense official said the United States believes a Russian missile cruiser that sank in the northern Black Sea on Thursday was hit by at least one Ukrainian anti-ship missile, according to the Kyiv government.
Pentagon officials said earlier that they could not confirm the Ukrainian claim, but also did not refute it. A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an intelligence assessment, said Moscow was hit by at least one and possibly two Neptune missiles on Wednesday, sparking a major fire on board.
The official did not provide further details, except that the United States believes that the Russians have suffered a number of casualties on board the ship.
– Associated Press writer Robert Burns reports
___
LVIV, Ukraine – The bodies of more than 900 civilians were found in the Kyiv region after the withdrawal of Russian forces, the regional police chief said at a briefing on Friday.
Andriy Nebitov, head of the regional police in Kyiv, said the bodies had been abandoned on the streets or temporarily buried. He quoted police as saying that 95% of the victims had died from sniper fire and gunshot wounds.
“Therefore, we understand that during the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets,” Nebitov said. “The number of killed civilians exceeded 900 – and I emphasize, these are civilians whose bodies we found and handed over for forensic examination.
He added that more bodies were found every day, under the rubble and in mass graves.
“The highest number of victims was found in Bucha, where there are more than 350 bodies,” he said.
According to Nebitov, public service officials in Bucha collected and buried bodies in the Kyiv suburb while it remained under Russian control. Nebitov added that Russian troops are “tracking” people who express strong pro-Ukrainian views.
___
Kyiv, Ukraine – Two civilians have died from shrapnel wounds after a rocket was shot down near the southern Ukrainian city of Kakhovka, according to a Facebook post posted by Kakhovka municipal authorities the same day.
“It was not calm in Kakhovka in the morning. Five civilians with injuries were admitted to the municipal hospital in Kakhovka. Two were killed and three were injured (one of them is in critical condition in intensive care, two have moderate injuries) “, Kakhovka Municipal Territorial Community writes.
The municipal body added that all five were hit by shrapnel after leaving their homes to see the remains of a downed rocket over the nearby town of Tavriysk.
It was not immediately clear which of the warring parties fired the weapon and which dropped it.
The publication urges locals to stay inside and beware of windows if they hear gunshots or explosions.
___
The website of the French state broadcaster RFI appears to have become unavailable in Russia on Friday after national media and Internet observers added one of its pages critical of the war in Ukraine to its register of blocked websites.
This week, the Roskomnadzor news agency restricted access to news websites in line with a decision by Russia’s chief prosecutor on Tuesday, blocking publications that publish “information inciting riots, extremist activity or participation in mass (public) events.” established order and unreliable information of public importance. “
According to the Roskomnadzor, authorities have blocked an RFI article citing an article in French magazine Le Figaro alleging that Russian servicemen raped women in Ukraine, but the operator said his entire website was ultimately inaccessible in Russia.
Earlier on Friday, Roskomnadzor apparently cut off access to the Russian-language website of the largest independent Russian-language newspaper, The Moscow Times, citing …
Add Comment