The strategic port of Mariupol is “under siege” by Russian forces
The port city of Mariupol is under siege and faces a series of attacks by the Russian army.
The Ukrainian army is said to have suffered heavy losses in defending the city of Mariupol. Here is a photo of the Ukrainian tank released by the Russian military.
AFP
The mayor of the city said on Saturday, the tenth day of the invasion and the day after the shock, that the strategic port of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine was under “siege” and “ruthless attacks” by Russian forces. The world by the attack on the nuclear power plant in Zaporozhye, the largest Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Europe.
“For five days, our hometown, our family of half a million people, has come under ruthless attack,” Mariupol Mayor Vadim Poychenko wrote in a telegram, continuing to call for protest. “We are looking for solutions to humanitarian problems and we are looking for all possible ways to get Mariupol out of the siege,” the mayor continued. “Our priority is to establish a ceasefire so that vital infrastructure can be restored and a humanitarian corridor can be set up to bring food and medicine into the city,” he added.
The capture of Moscow, a city of about 450,000 people in the Sea of Azov, was a major turning point in the invasion of Ukraine. This would allow a confrontation between Russian forces from Crimea and separatist and Russian troops in the Donbass, who have already captured the main ports of Berdyansk and Kerson.
Port of Mariupol on 23 February.
AFP
The Russian military has been occupying the Zaporozhye nuclear plant in southeastern Ukraine since Friday, where its artillery fire, according to Ukrainians, has caused a fire – which Moscow denies has caused. The attack on Europe’s largest nuclear power plant with six nuclear reactors shocked the international community. This is “a major threat to Europe and the world,” US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the UN Security Council on Friday.
“Six Chernobyl”
“We survived one night that could bring history to an end. History of Ukraine. History of Europe “: The explosion at the Zaporoshie power plant in southern Ukraine, which would have been equivalent to” six Chernobyls “, will be addressed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zhelensky via video conference in the US Senate on Saturday.
An explosion occurred Thursday at the Zaporozhye power plant in southern Ukraine.
AFP
Moscow has categorically denied attacking the site. Russia’s ambassador to the Security Council, Vasily Nebenzia, confirmed that this was a “lie”. In Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry was caught up with “groups of Ukrainian saboteurs, with the participation of mercenaries.” The G7 nations have announced that they will “impose tough new sanctions in response to the Russian occupation.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has warned that the Atlantic Coalition will not respond to calls for the creation of a no-fly zone to avoid being dragged into the conflict if it insists on ending the conflict. “The only way to actually implement something like a no-fly zone is to send NATO planes into Ukrainian airspace and shoot down Russian planes. This could lead to a full-scale war,” said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
A “self hypnosis” for Zhelensky
President Zhelensky responded harshly. He denounced in a video released by the Ukrainian president that NATO “has given the green light for continued bombing of Ukrainian cities and villages and refuses to establish a no-fly zone.”
“NATO countries created a story that the no-fly zone over Ukraine would trigger a direct Russian aggression against NATO,” he continued. “It is a process of self-hypnosis for those with weak, insecure souls, while they have more powerful weapons than us,” Zhelensky added. Meanwhile, a Pentagon official announced on Friday that $ 240 million worth of equipment, including some of the most important anti-armor equipment, had been handed over to Ukrainian forces “in several locations.”
According to Mykhaïlo Podoliak, adviser to the Ukrainian president, the third round of Russian-Ukrainian talks could take place on Saturday or Sunday. But the chances of progress are slim, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that dialogue with Kiev is possible only if “all Russian demands” are met, especially for a country with “neutral and non-nuclear” status. Its “compulsory militarization”.
“We are waiting for the third round of talks with the Ukrainian authorities in Belarus. We hope that Ukraine will listen to Russia’s position and concerns, especially as it calls for an end to military operations, “Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sky News Arabia on Friday night.
A human figure is very difficult to verify
The previous two rounds of talks on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border and later on the Polish-Belarusian border did not lead to a ceasefire, but the parties agreed to set up “humanitarian corridors” to evacuate civilians. Fighting continued Friday in Chernivtsi, north of Kiev, where Ukraine has accused Moscow of bombing residential areas and schools, killing 47 people, according to a new report.
AFP journalists have identified the attacks as increasingly violent and indiscriminate against residential areas in the city of Irfin. A day after an almost unprovoked Russian bombing, dense black smoke covered the northwestern suburbs of Kiev on Friday.
The balance cannot be verified independently. Russia’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Gennady Kvatilov, confirmed that “2870 people have been killed on the Ukrainian side and 498 on the Russian side.” Ukrainian and Western observers say the Russian casualties are very low, citing the killing of more than 9,000 Russian soldiers in Kiev.
Putin condemns a “total fiction”
Vladimir Putin assured that Russian forces would not bomb Kiev and major Ukrainian cities, calling the reports of the destruction carried out by Moscow “total propaganda fiction.” In Russia, the Kremlin has intensified the repression of all opposition voices facing the conflict. Since the attack began on February 24, arrests, closures of some remaining independent media outlets and new repressive texts have been linked, while the Kremlin and the mainstream Russian media present the conflict as a “special military operation.”
Vladimir Putin on Friday signed a law punishing those who publish “false information” with up to 15 years in prison. The Bloomberg News Agency and the BBC (British Public Broadcasting Corporation) have announced that they will suspend the activities of their journalists and the American news channel CNN will suspend its programs in Russia.
More than 1.2 million refugees have already fled Ukraine, according to a recent UN report. According to the account, it stimulates strong mobilization, especially in border countries. The World Food Program (WFP) has warned of food shortages in war-torn areas, prompting the UN to address the humanitarian crisis. Diplomats say the Security Council will meet urgently again on Monday.
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