Vladimir Zelensky has said up to 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, with no civilian casualties yet as fighting intensified in the battle for the southern city of Mariupol.
The Ukrainian president said the military situation in the south and east was “still very difficult”, while praising the work of his armed forces. “The success of our military on the battlefield is really significant, historically significant. But they are still not enough to clean our land of occupiers, “he said in a late-night video address, urging allies to send heavier weapons and an international embargo on Russian oil.
Zelensky, speaking with CNN’s Jake Tapper, estimated that about 10,000 of his soldiers have been wounded in the war so far and that up to 20,000 Russian soldiers have died. Moscow said last month that 1,351 Russian soldiers had been killed and 3,825 wounded. There is still no way to verify any of the allegations independently.
Ukrainian forces remain prepared for Russian repression following the sinking of the flagship cruiser Moscow, the pride of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, which US defense officials have confirmed sank after a Ukrainian missile strike. The government in Kyiv said it had destroyed the giant missile cruiser during a combat operation in the Black Sea on Wednesday. The deck of ammunition on the boat exploded after being hit by two Neptune anti-ship missiles, he added.
Russia has said it has hit what it describes as a factory on the outskirts of the capital, Kyiv, which makes and repairs anti-ship missiles.
The United States believes two Ukrainian missiles hit Moscow, causing Russian casualties, a senior official said, opposing Moscow’s claim that the missile cruiser sank due to an explosion on board and more than 500 sailors were evacuated. The fate of most of the crew remains unclear.
Map of Ukraine
Zelensky called on Joe Biden to designate Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism”, joining North Korea, Cuba, Iran and Syria, the Washington Post reported, citing people familiar with the conversation. A White House spokesman said: “We will continue to consider all options to increase pressure on Putin.”
This week, Russia reportedly sent an official warning to the United States not to send more weapons to Ukraine or to risk “unpredictable consequences.” The diplomatic note, or démarche, warns that US and NATO supplies of Ukraine’s “most sensitive” weapons systems “add fuel” to the conflict.
The United States is preparing to send the last tranche of $ 800 million (£ 610 million) in military aid to Ukraine, for a total of $ 2.6 billion since the start of the war. The Biden administration has also made it clear that it is sending increasingly heavy and sophisticated equipment, including helicopters, air and sea drones and long-range 155-millimeter howitzers, as it trains Ukrainian troops in their use.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmihal and senior financial officials, including Finance Minister Sergei Marchenko and Central Bank Governor Kirill Shevchenko, will travel to Washington next week to attend meetings with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Reuters and Associated sources reported. Press. This will be the first chance for key Ukrainian officials to meet in person with financial officials from developed economies since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February.
The bodies of more than 900 civilians have been found in the Kyiv region after the withdrawal of Russian forces, police said. This is twice as much as announced two weeks ago by the Ukrainian authorities.
Andriy Nebitov, head of the regional police in Kyiv, said the bodies had been abandoned on the street or temporarily buried. He cited police figures showing that 95% had died from gunshot wounds. “Therefore, we understand that during the occupation, people were simply executed on the streets,” Nebitov said.
After seven weeks of war, Ukraine said it was trying to end Russia’s siege of the southeastern port city of Mariupol, a city so ravaged by shelling and cut off by invading forces that the head of the World Food Program warned trapped civilians. at risk of starvation.
Home to 400,000 people before the Russian invasion, Mariupol was turned into ruins. Thousands of civilians have died and tens of thousands remain trapped.
A spokesman for Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, Alexander Motuzyanik, told a briefing that the Russians had not completely taken over, but added: “The situation in Mariupol is difficult and difficult. The struggle is happening right now. The Russian army is constantly calling for additional units to storm the city. If Moscow takes over Mariupol, it will be the first big city to fall.
Russia’s defense ministry has said it has taken over the city’s Ilyich steel plant, but the report cannot be confirmed. Ukrainian defenders are believed to be staying mainly in Azovstal, another huge steel mine.
Both plants are owned by Metinvest – the empire of Ukraine’s richest businessman and the backbone of Ukraine’s industrial east – which told Reuters on Friday it would never allow its businesses to operate under Russian occupation.
In other developments:
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Germany has said it plans to provide more than 1 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine. On Friday, the country’s finance minister, Christian Lindner, confirmed that the government has decided to increase its international aid to the defense sector to 2 billion euros, with most going to Ukraine as military aid. This is a result of pressure from Ukraine – and criticism from other EU governments – for Germany’s apparent lack of arms support for Kyiv. Diplomatic feathers shook earlier this week after Kyiv rejected a proposed visit by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a former foreign minister who recently admitted “mistakes” in a very conciliatory stance toward Moscow in the past. Instead, the Ukrainian presidency said it wanted to meet Olaf Scholz, but the chancellor said he had no plans to visit soon.
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