- Russia says it plans full control of Donbass and southern Ukraine
- Ukraine says comments show Russia is seeking occupation
- An EU representative sees a decisive few weeks
- The UN chief will meet with Putin and Zelensky next week
Kyiv / MARIUPOL, Ukraine, April 23 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has warned that Russia’s invasion of his country is just beginning and that Moscow has plans to take over other countries after a Russian general said he wanted full control. over southern Ukraine.
“All nations that, like us, believe in the victory of life over death must fight us. They must help us, because we are first in line. And who will come next?” Zelenski said this in a video address late Friday.
Rustam Minekayev, deputy commander of Russia’s Central Military District, was quoted by Russian state news agencies as saying full control of southern Ukraine would give it access to Transnistria, a breakaway Russian-occupied part of Moldova to the west. Read more
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This will cut off the entire coast of Ukraine and means that Russian forces will be pushed hundreds of miles to the west, past the large Ukrainian coastal cities of Nikolaev and Odessa.
The statement was one of the most detailed about Moscow’s ambitions in Ukraine and suggests that Russia has no plans to end its offensive there soon.
Ukraine’s defense ministry said Minekayev’s comments showed that Russia was no longer hiding its intentions.
Moscow, Twitter says, has now acknowledged that the goal of the “second phase” of the war is not to defeat the mythical Nazis, but simply to occupy eastern and southern Ukraine. Imperialism as it is.
Russia says it is conducting a “special military operation” to demilitarize Ukraine and free its population from dangerous nationalists. Ukraine and its Western allies call the February 24 invasion of Russia an unjustified aggressive war.
Moldova’s foreign ministry said it had summoned Moscow’s ambassador on Friday to express “deep concern” over the general’s comments. Moldova is neutral, it says. Last month, Moldova applied to join the European Union, outlining a pro-Western course accelerated by Russia’s invasion.
US State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter said Washington strongly supports Moldova’s sovereignty.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on whether Russia has expanded the objectives of its operation and how Moscow sees the political future of southern Ukraine.
As US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Schmihal in Washington, Zelensky said the Allies were finally delivering the weapons Kyiv requested.
President Joe Biden said on Thursday that he had authorized an additional $ 800 million in military aid to Ukraine, including heavy artillery, ammunition and drones. Canada said on Friday it had provided more heavy artillery to Ukraine. Read more
A senior EU official said the next few weeks are likely to be crucial.
Ukrainian soldier jumps from a destroyed Russian tank on the outskirts of the village of Mala Rohan, against the background of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine, April 20, 2022. Photo taken on April 20, 2022. REUTERS / Alkis Konstantinidis
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“We will probably see a very significant increase in the intensity of Russian military attacks on the east (and coast),” he told reporters.
The Ukrainian military said Russia was continuing its offensive operations in the east, trying to establish full control of Donetsk and Luhansk and secure a land connection with Crimea.
Russian forces are also partially blocking the city of Kharkiv, according to an update Saturday morning from Ukraine’s General Staff.
In Nikolaev, 87 civilians were killed in the raid, including one child, Mayor Alexander Senkevich said late Friday on his Facebook page. Nearly 400 people were injured. Reuters could not independently verify the report.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia’s Chechnya region, often described as a “Putin soldier,” wrote in his official Telegram account late Friday that Chechnya is sending hundreds of additional volunteers to fight for Russia in Ukraine.
In Geneva, the UN Office of Human Rights said there was growing evidence of Russian war crimes, including indiscriminate shelling and executions. It says Ukraine also appears to have used weapons with indiscriminate effects.
Russia denies attacking civilians and says without evidence that signs of atrocities committed by its troops have been falsified. Ukraine has previously said it will punish all soldiers found to have committed war crimes.
Russia has said it has “safely” blocked thousands of Ukrainian soldiers hiding in a huge steel mine in Mariupol, Donbass’s main port, a day after President Vladimir Putin said the army would not bother to eradicate them.
Putin declared victory in the city after a nearly two-month siege. In a Russian-controlled area of Mariupol, dizzy residents dared this week amid charred apartment blocks and broken-down cars.
Volunteers in white protective suits and masks toured the ruins, collecting bodies from apartments and loading them into a truck marked with the letter “Z”, a symbol of the Russian invasion.
Ukraine estimates that tens of thousands of civilians have died in the Russian siege of the city and says 100,000 civilians are still there and in need of a full evacuation.
Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk said on Friday that “there is a possibility” that a humanitarian corridor from Mariupol will be opened on Saturday.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will visit Moscow on Tuesday to meet with Putin and discuss the urgent introduction of peace in Ukraine, a spokesman said, adding that Guterres would then travel to Kyiv for talks with Zelensky.
The U.S. military expects more than 20 countries to attend Ukraine-focused defense talks, which will be hosted in Germany next week, focusing in part on Kyiv’s long-term defense needs, the Pentagon said Friday.
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Report by Maria Starkova in Lviv and other Reuters journalists; Screenplay by David Brunstrom and Kim Coghill; Edited by Rosalba O’Brien and William Mallard
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