Russian forces are leaving explosives across “the entire territory,” including around homes and bodies, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who warned his people early Saturday that they are causing “a complete tragedy” outside the city.
He issued the warning as the humanitarian crisis in Mariupol, which has been ringed for two days, worsened, with Russian soldiers delaying evacuation operations for the second day in a row. Meanwhile, the Kremlin accused the Ukrainians of attacking gasoline storage on Russian land with a helicopter.
Ukraine disputed responsibility for the catastrophic explosion, but if Moscow’s claim is true, it will be the first time Ukrainian planes have breached Russian airspace during the war.
“Certainly, this does not create pleasant conditions for the continuation of the discussions,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, five weeks after Moscow began moving upwards of 150,000 troops across Ukraine’s border.
After announcing earlier this week that it would restrict military action near Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv, Russia has continued to remove some of its ground units from the area.
“They’re mining the entire region.” In his nightly video message to the nation, Zelensky added, “They are mining homes, mining equipment, even the bodies of individuals who have been killed.” “There are a lot of tripwires and other dangers,” says the narrator.
Ukraine’s military announced that 29 communities in the Kyiv and Chernihiv areas had been retaken.
Nonetheless, Ukraine and its allies cautioned that the Kremlin is resupplying and transferring its troops to the country’s east, rather than de-escalating to foster trust at the negotiating table, as Moscow stated. Those actions appear to be in preparation for a more aggressive assault on the Donbas region in Ukraine’s east, which contains Mariupol.
As Russia redeploys soldiers, Zelensky warned of difficult battles ahead. “We’re gearing up for a more aggressive defense,” he remarked.
He made no mention of the most recent round of negotiations, which took place by video on Friday. Ukraine stated earlier this week that in exchange for security guarantees from many other countries, it would be willing to drop its desire to join NATO and declare itself neutral, which is Moscow’s main demand.
Thousands of people have died as a result of the invasion, and more than 4 million people have fled Ukraine.
Mariupol, the war-torn and beleaguered southern port city, has witnessed some of the war’s worst atrocities. Its acquisition would be a big achievement for Russian President Vladimir Putin, as it would provide his country with an unbroken land link to Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
The International Committee of the Red Cross announced on Friday that it would be unable to carry out a bus operation to transport civilians out of Mariupol. Russians, according to city officials, are obstructing the entrance to the city.
“We do not see a genuine intention on the part of the Russians and their satellites to provide an opportunity for Mariupol inhabitants to flee to Ukrainian-controlled area,” Petro Andryushchenko, a Mariupol mayor’s counsel, wrote on Telegram.
“Any humanitarian cargo, even in little amounts, is clearly not allowed into the city,” he claimed, adding that Russian forces “are categorically not allowing any humanitarian cargo, even in small amounts, into the city.”
The population of the city is estimated to be 100,000, down from 430,000 in the prewar period. Water, food, fuel, and medicine have all been in low supply due to weeks of Russian airstrikes and street warfare.
“Adjectives are running short to describe the tragedies that Mariupol residents have endured,” Red Cross representative Ewan Watson said.
According to Ukrainian authorities, Russian forces stopped a 45-bus convoy attempting to evacuate residents from Mariupol on Thursday and stole 14 tons of food and medical supplies headed for the city.
On Friday, more than 3,000 individuals were able to depart Mariupol, according to Zelensky.
He said he spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron on the phone about the humanitarian crisis, as well as with Roberta Metsola, the president of the European Parliament, during her visit to Kyiv.
“Europe has no right to remain silent about what is going on in our Mariupol,” Zelensky stated. “This humanitarian disaster should elicit a global response.”
In other news, regional leader Maksim Marchenko reported that at least three Russian ballistic missiles were fired late Friday at the Odesa region on the Black Sea. The Iskander missiles did not strike the crucial infrastructure that had been targeted, according to the Ukrainian military.
Ukraine’s navy is headquartered in Odesa, the country’s main port.
Two Ukrainian helicopter gunships flew in extremely low and attacked a civilian oil storage facility on the outskirts of Belgorod, some 25 kilometers (16 miles) from the Ukraine border, according to Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.
Two personnel at the depot were injured, according to the regional governor, although Rosneft, the state oil firm, denied any injuries.
“For some reason, they say we did it,” Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security Council, said on Ukrainian television. “In fact, this does not match with reality.”
Zelensky later refused to disclose whether Ukraine was behind the attack in an interview with Fox.
Damaged cars lined the streets of Irpin, a suburban region popular with young families that is now in ruins, on the outskirts of Kyiv, where Russian forces have withdrawn. A destroyed bridge was used to transport elderly individuals on stretchers to safety.
The graves of a mother and son, as well as an unknown guy, were marked by three wooden crosses near a residential building that had been damaged by shelling. On March 5, just before Russian troops swept in, a local named Lila said she assisted in hastily burying them.
“Artillery shells hit them, and they were charred alive,” she claimed.
The Russians packed up their equipment and left on Tuesday, according to an Irpin resident who only went by the name Andriy. They pounded the town for about an hour the next day before the Ukrainian army retook it.
Andriy stated, “I don’t think this is over.” “They’ll be back,” says the narrator.
