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As air raid sirens woke residents again on Sunday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Russian forces that they would face a fight to the death if they attempted to occupy the capital Kyiv.
“They will enter Kyiv if they decide to carpet bomb and simply erase the history of this region… and destroy all of us. If that’s their goal, let them in, but they’ll have to live on their own on this land “On Saturday, Zelensky stated.
In the third week of the Russian attacks, the president, who has repeatedly appeared on social media from the capital, said some small towns no longer existed.
Russian shelling has trapped thousands of people in besieged cities and displaced 2.5 million Ukrainians to neighboring countries.
Ukraine accused Russian forces of killing seven civilians in an attack on women and children fleeing fighting near Kyiv on Saturday. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, according to France, has shown no willingness to make peace.
According to the Ukrainian intelligence service, the seven people were killed as they fled the village of Peremoha, and “the occupiers forced the remnants of the column to turn back.”
Reuters was unable to confirm the report immediately, and Russia had no immediate comment.
Since invading Ukraine on February 24, Moscow has denied targeting civilians. It accuses Ukraine of failing to evacuate civilians from encircled cities, which Ukraine and its Western allies strongly deny.
Zelensky said Moscow was sending in reinforcements after Ukrainian forces knocked out 31 of Russia’s battalion tactical groups in what he called Russia’s worst army losses in decades. Reuters was unable to confirm his claims.
“We must continue to hold on. We must continue to fight “Zelenskiy made the remarks in his second video address of the day late on Saturday. He urged the West to become more involved in peace talks after claiming that approximately 1,300 Ukrainian troops had been killed.
The US said it would send up to $200 million in additional small arms, anti-tank, and anti-aircraft weapons to Ukraine, where officials have asked for more military assistance.
The Kremlin describes its actions as a “special operation” to disarm Ukraine and depose neo-Nazi leaders. Ukraine and its Western allies see this as a sham pretext for a war of choice, raising fears of wider conflict in Europe.
Zelensky discussed the conflict with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, both of whom urged Putin to order an immediate ceasefire.
On their 75-minute call, the Kremlin made no mention of a cease-fire. “We did not detect a willingness on Putin’s part to end the war,” a French presidency official said.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov accused the US of inflaming tensions and said the situation had been exacerbated by convoys of Western arms shipments to Ukraine, which Russian forces saw as “legitimate targets.”
Ryabkov made no specific threats in comments reported by the Tass news agency. Any attack on such convoys before they reach Ukraine risks escalating the conflict.
