Zelenskiy says some Ukraine towns are gone

Pavel Polityuk and Natalia Zinets | March 13, 2022

A Russian air strike was launched on a Ukrainian military base in the west of the country near the Polish border, the Lviv regional military administration has reported

“The occupiers launched an air strike on the International Centre for Peacekeeping and Security. According to preliminary data, they fired eight missiles,” the administration said in a statement.

The centre, less than 25 km from the Polish border, said it would release details later. 

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned Russian forces they face a fight to the death if they try to occupy the capital Kyiv, as air raid sirens again woke residents.

The president, who has repeatedly appeared on social media from the capital, said some small towns no longer existed after the third week of Russian attacks, the biggest assault on a European country since World War Two.

Russian shelling has trapped thousands of people in besieged cities and sent 2.5 million Ukrainians fleeing to neighbouring countries.

Ukraine accused Russian forces on Saturday of killing seven civilians in an attack on women and children trying to flee fighting near Kyiv. 

The Ukrainian intelligence service said the seven, including one child, were killed as they fled the village of Peremoha and that “the occupiers forced the remnants of the column to turn back.”

Moscow denies targeting civilians since invading Ukraine on February 24. It blames Ukraine for failed attempts to evacuate civilians from encircled cities, an accusation Ukraine and its Western allies strongly reject.

Zelenskiy said Moscow was sending in new troops after Ukrainian forces put 31 of Russia’s battalion tactical groups out of action in what he called Russia’s largest army losses in decades. Reuters could not verify his statements.

“We still need to hold on. We still have to fight,” Zelenskiy said in a video address late on Saturday, his second of the day. Saying about 1,300 Ukrainian troops had been killed in the conflict, he urged the West to get more involved in peace negotiations.

The United States said it would rush up to $200 million in additional small arms, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to Ukraine, where officials have pleaded for more military aid.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov accused the US of  escalating tensions and said the arms shipments would be considered “legitimate targets”.

The Kremlin describes its actions as a “special operation” to disarm Ukraine and unseat leaders it calls neo-Nazis. Ukraine and Western allies call this a baseless pretext for a war of choice that has raised fears of wider conflict in Europe.

In a 75 minute call, France’s Emmanuel Macron urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to order an immediate ceasefire, but a French official said later “We did not detect a willingness on Putin’s part to end the war.”

Crisis talks between Moscow and Kyiv have been continuing by video link, said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.He gave no details, but Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Kyiv would not surrender or accept any ultimatums.

Britain’s defence ministry has said Russian ground forces were massed 25 km from the centre of Kyiv, while Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and the key Black Sea port of Mariupol remained encircled under heavy Russian shelling.

Ukrainian officials had planned to use humanitarian corridors from Mariupol in the south as well as towns and villages in the regions of Kyiv, Sumy and some other areas, for civilians to get out.

Around 13,000 people were evacuated from Ukrainian cities on Saturday, said Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.

The Donetsk region’s governor said constant shelling was complicating bringing aid into Mariupol. Fires were burning in the western section of the city and dozens of apartment buildings were heavily damaged, according to images taken by private US satellite firm Maxar.

Close to 1600 civilians in Mariupol have been killed as a result of Russian shelling and a 12-day blockade, the city council said on Friday.