Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Russian forces that they will face a life-threatening battle if they try to occupy Kyiv, and air alarms have been sounded again this morning.
“If they decide to level by bombing and just erase the history of this region … and destroy us all, then they will enter Kyiv. “If that is their goal, let them come, but they must be able to live on this earth on their own,” Zelenski said on Saturday.
The president, who has repeatedly appeared on social media from the capital, said some small towns were no longer in the third week of Russian attacks, the largest invasion of a European country since World War II.
Russian bombings have trapped thousands of people in besieged cities, while 2.5 million Ukrainians have fled to neighboring countries.
Ukraine on Saturday accused Russian forces of killing seven civilians in an attack on women and children trying to escape fighting near Kyiv. France has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not seem ready to make peace.
The Ukrainian intelligence service said seven people, including a child, had been killed as they were fleeing the village of Peremoha and that “the intruders had forced those who remained in the convoy to return.”
Reuters reports that it was not immediately able to verify the information and Russia did not comment immediately.
Moscow denies targeting civilians after the February 24 invasion. He blamed Ukraine for failed attempts to evacuate civilians from besieged cities, a charge that Ukraine and its Western allies categorically reject.
Zelensky said Moscow was sending new troops after Ukrainian forces withdrew 31 Russian battalions and spoke of the heaviest Russian military losses in decades. Reuters reports that he could not verify his statements.
“It simply came to our notice then. “We still have to fight,” Zelensky said in a videotaped speech last night, the second of yesterday. He said some 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed, and called on the West to be more involved in the peace process.
The United States has said it will rush to Ukraine to supply additional small arms, as well as anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons worth up to $ 200 million. Ukrainian officials have called for more military assistance.
Zelensky discussed the war with German Chancellor Olaf Soltz and French President Emanuel Macron, who called on Putin to order an immediate ceasefire.
A Kremlin statement on their 75-minute speech made no mention of a ceasefire. A French presidency official said: “We do not see any willingness on the part of Putin to end the war.”
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov accused the United States of escalating tensions and said the situation was complicated by convoys carrying Western weapons to Ukraine, which Russian forces consider “legitimate targets.”
In comments broadcast by TASS, Ryabkov did not make a specific threat. Any attack on such convoys before they reach Ukraine would risk escalating the war.
Talks between Moscow and Kyiv continue via video conference, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov was quoted as saying by Russia’s RIA news agency. He did not provide details, but Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said Kyiv would not surrender or accept any ultimatums.
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