Zelensky on Mariupol; civilian bodies found
A key strategic city in Ukraine has now endured more than six weeks of brutal Russian siege, putting up fierce resistance that has so far helped thwart Moscow’s plans to control the eastern industrial heartland Ukraine.
But shortages of weapons and supplies threaten Mariupol’s ability to resist Russian forces.
Once a city of 450,000 inhabitants, it now has only 120,000 people. At least 21,000 people have been killed in Mariupol, Mayor Vadym Boychenko said. The bodies were “carpeted in the streets”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the fate of the city was being discussed among the country’s leaders: “Details cannot be made public now, but we are doing everything we can to save our people,” he said. said Zelenskyy on Friday.
The city was thrust into the international spotlight in early March with the bombing of a maternity hospital, an attack Western leaders have called a war crime. The airstrike killed three civilians, including a child, and injured 17.
Later, 300 people died in a Russian airstrike on the Mariupol Drama Theater which served as a shelter. There was the word “CHILDREN” printed in Russian in white letters on the sidewalk outside – a failed attempt to prevent an attack.
Meanwhile, Zelenskyy continues to call for more outside support for his country, including more and faster military aid, as well as an oil embargo on Russia.
This could determine “how many more Ukrainians the occupiers have time to kill”, he said.
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Latest developments
►The governor of the Kharkiv region claims that seven people, including a 7-month-old child, were killed in the shelling of a residential area of the city.
►President Joe Biden is not ready to travel to Ukraine, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told the “Pod Save America” podcast on Thursday.
Russian holiday could mark key deadline in Ukraine
An upcoming national holiday in Russia could be a milestone in that country’s invasion of Ukraine, a war that has been harder than expected by the Kremlin.
May 9 is Victory Day, marking Russia’s defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 at the end of World War II. Ukrainian and Western officials see it as a date when Russian President Vladimir Putin could target progress in the war.
The date – marking the end of what Russia calls the Great Patriotic War – is a date that rose to prominence in Putin’s tenure “and became a fundamental moment in the politics of memory and Russian national identity. of the Kremlin,” said Hannah Chapman, assistant professor of political science at the University of Miami.
The Kremlin staged massive shows of force to mark the day, along with parades and other displays of military might.
But not everyone agrees. Read more.
– Merdie Nzanga
Over 900 bodies of civilians found in Kyiv region, police chief says
The bodies of more than 900 civilians were discovered in the Kyiv region after Russian forces withdrew, the regional police chief said Friday at a press briefing.
Andriy Nebytov, chief of Kyiv regional police, said the bodies had been left on the streets or temporarily buried. He cited police data indicating that 95% of victims died from sniper fire and gunshot wounds. He added that more and more bodies were being found every day, under the rubble and in mass graves.
“Therefore, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets,” Nebytov said. “The number of civilians killed has exceeded 900 – and I emphasize that these are civilians, whose bodies we discovered and handed over for forensic examination.”
He added: “Most of the victims were found in Bucha, where there are more than 350 corpses. »
According to Nebytov, Bucha utility workers had picked up and buried bodies in the Kyiv suburbs while it remained under Russian control. Nebytov added that Russian troops were “hunting down” people who expressed strong pro-Ukrainian views.
US confirms 2 Ukrainian missiles sank Russian flagship in Black Sea
Two Ukrainian Neptune missiles struck the Russian guided-missile cruiser Moskva, which then sank, according to a senior US defense official who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Pentagon officials previously said they could not confirm the Ukrainian claim, but they did not refute it either.
The warship Moskva, whose history dates back to the Cold War era, sank in the Black Sea on Thursday in the latest blow to Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine.
The loss of the ship, built in Ukraine during Soviet times and named after the Russian capital, represents a military setback and a symbolic defeat for Russia as its troops regroup for a new offensive in eastern Ukraine after stumbling in the north.
– Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
Contribute: The Associated Press
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