Kyiv, Ukraine – The Ukrainian military said on Saturday that it had destroyed a Russian command post in Kherson, a southern city that fell to Russian forces earlier in the war.
Ukrainian military intelligence has issued a statement saying the command post was hit on Friday and two generals were killed and one seriously injured.
Alexei Arestovich, an adviser to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, said in an online interview that 50 senior Russian officers were at the command center when he was attacked. He said their fate was unknown.
The Russian military did not comment on the allegation, which could not be confirmed.
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
Kyiv, Ukraine – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says new evidence is emerging that Russian troops have killed tens of thousands of civilians in Mariupol and then tried to cover it up. He said Ukraine had intercepted Russian talks about “how they cover up the traces of their crimes”. Satellite images show what appear to be mass graves excavated in cities west and east of Mariupol.
Zelensky said the Russians had set up “filtration camps” near Mariupol for those trying to leave the city, which has largely been ruined. He said those who survived the camps were sent to areas under Russian occupation or to Russia itself, often as far as Siberia or the Far East. Many of them, he said, are children.
He said he had spoken to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday about the situation in Mariupol and the overall course of the war.
Zelenski promised to find and punish those responsible for the rocket attack on Odessa, which he said killed eight people and injured 18.
Zelensky called on Ukrainians to observe curfew and not to attend Orthodox Easter services overnight. Long services traditionally begin late on Saturday and last until Sunday morning. “But from 5 in the morning you can go to church in your city, town or community,” he said.
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SLOVYANSK, Ukraine – The sound of outgoing artillery and air raid sirens was heard on Saturday in Slavyansk, a city in the northern Donbass that was attacked by Russia the day before.
Two servicemen were taken to a hospital in a nearby town, but one was fatally wounded and could not be saved.
A Russian strike earlier Friday damaged several buildings, including a school.
The war brought back painful memories of Slavyansk residents, where in 2014 Ukrainian government forces repulsed Russian-backed separatists after a fierce battle. In the years since, separatists have maintained control of part of Donbass, and now Moscow has set out to take over the entire region.
Anna Direnskaya, 70, said she and her son and daughter-in-law had decided to stay in Slavyansk.
“I survived 2014. I was here too. I haven’t gone anywhere and I don’t want to go anywhere. I’m not hiding from myself,” she said as she sat in a wheelchair in front of her damaged apartment building. “I want peace.”
Direnskaya, who, like many in eastern Ukraine, was born Russian, said she would like the Russians to understand that Ukrainians are not bad people and there is no enmity between them.
“Why did this happen? Why is this happening? I don’t know. Tell everyone I want peace and quiet,” she said.
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Kyiv, Ukraine – The President of Ukraine said he would meet with the Secretary of State and the US Secretary of Defense in Kyiv on Sunday.
President Vladimir Zelenski spoke about the plans at a press conference on Saturday. He did not immediately share more details about the visit of Anthony Blinken and Lloyd Austin.
The White House declined to comment on Saturday. The US State Department also declined to comment.
For weeks, Zelensky has called on Western allies to send more weapons to Ukraine to counter the Russian invasion.
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WARSAW, Poland – Poland and Ukraine have signed an agreement to boost co-operation in the railway sector to help Ukraine maintain trade with foreign countries as the Russian invasion affects its ports.
The Prime Minister of Ukraine Denis Schmihal and the Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki met on Saturday in Krakow, Poland.
Moravetsky said on Facebook that they both agreed that the current sanctions against Russia were insufficient, as evidenced by the state of “Russian currency, bonds or inflation”. They called on the international community for tougher steps to stop Russian aggression against Ukraine and for more military aid to help Ukraine.
Morawiecki paid special attention to the plight of civilians seeking protection at the Mariupol steel plant, calling for co-operation.
“In Mariupol, the soldiers – or rather the Russian criminals – want to make women and children starve to death. They are waiting until they run out of water. What kind of strategy is this? This is not war. This is genocide.”
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ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey’s top diplomat has said Ankara has closed Turkish airspace to Russian civilian and military flights between Russia and Syria.
Mevlut Cavusoglu told a group of Turkish journalists during a visit to Uruguay that Russia has permission to use Turkish airspace for flights to Syria until April.
But Haberturk TV reported that Cavusoglu said on Saturday that he had asked Moscow to stop using the airspace during a visit there in March, and that Moscow had agreed to Turkey’s request.
Cavusoglu did not give details, and it was unclear whether the move was aimed at preventing the possible transfer of Syrian fighters to Ukraine.
A NATO member, Turkey is trying to balance its close relations with Moscow and Kyiv and is positioning itself as a mediator between the two. It did not join international sanctions against Russia, but closed the straits at the Black Sea entrance to some Russian warships.
The country hosted a meeting between Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers, as well as talks between the two countries’ negotiating teams.
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In an interview with the newspaper published on Saturday, Schroeder also said that his longtime friend, Russian President Vladimir Putin, was interested in ending the war with Ukraine.
Schroeder reportedly criticized German officials, who are now criticizing his efforts to secure Russian energy supplies to Germany, saying “they have all agreed to this over the past 30 years.”
In an interview, he called the war in Ukraine a “mistake” and said atrocities should be investigated, but added that he did not believe Putin himself had ordered the killing of civilians, such as those allegedly carried out by Russian troops in Ukraine. Bucha.
Schroeder, who met with Putin in Moscow last month on a private peace mediation mission with Ukraine, said the Russian president was “interested in ending the war.”
“But it’s not that easy. There are a few points that need to be clarified,” he was quoted as saying.
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LONDON – The office of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he had promised more defensive weapons were on their way to Ukraine as he spoke to President Vladimir Zelensky by phone on Saturday afternoon, the last conversation between the two leaders, who talk to each other regularly.
The British leader told Zelensky that the United Kingdom was sending more weapons, including vehicles, drones and anti-tank missiles.
Johnson also confirmed to Zelensky that the United Kingdom will reopen its embassy in Kyiv next week. He also briefed the Ukrainian leader on new indications of British sanctions against members of the Russian military and told him that the British government was helping to gather evidence of war crimes.
The two also discussed the UK’s work on long-term security solutions and financial support with international partners.
“The prime minister concluded by reiterating the United Kingdom’s unwavering support for the people of Ukraine and pledging to continue working with international partners to provide the necessary assistance to help Ukraine defend itself,” a statement from Downing Street said.
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Kyiv, Ukraine – An adviser to the Ukrainian president said five people, including a three-month-old baby, were killed in a rocket attack in the Black Sea port city of Odessa.
The head of the office of Ukrainian President Andriy Ermak provided the information on Saturday.
Earlier, an adviser to Ukraine’s interior minister said Russian forces had fired at least six cruise missiles into the city.
Anton Gerashchenko said in a Telegram post on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had managed to shoot down several missiles, but at least one had landed and exploded.
“Residents of the city heard explosions in different areas,” Gerashchenko wrote. “Residential buildings were hit.”
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HELSINKI – Hundreds of protesters belonging to the significant Russian-speaking community in Latvia took part in a large-scale demonstration in the Baltic capital, Riga, condemning the Kremlin regime and Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine.
Participants in Saturday’s rally, Voice of Russia Against the War, waved Ukrainian flags and posters reading “Stop the Genocide in Ukraine” and the “Full Russian Gas and Oil Embargo” on the central monument to freedom, Latvian public television LSM reported.
Organizers said the protest was aimed at demonstrating that many Russian-speakers in Latvia were not linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a statement, they called Moscow’s actions “criminal”.
Ethnic Russians make up about 25% of the 1.9 million population in Latvia, a former Soviet republic. Adding other national groups, such as Belarusians and Ukrainians, the share of Russian-speakers is about 30% of all citizens.
Earlier this week, …
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