The military situation in eastern Ukraine remains extremely difficult, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesnky said in an interview with Fox News.
He stressed that Russia is preparing to launch new bombings in the Donbas region and in the city of Kharkov.
He also said in a videotaped speech that Russian military forces in the north of the country were retreating, slowly but surely.
He added that sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and other countries over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to launch a military offensive in Ukraine were taking effect and needed to be intensified.
He even said that he would like China, which has not imposed sanctions on Russia, to stand by Ukraine.
Mr Zelensky also said more than 3,000 people “rescued” from Mariupol, the city in southeastern Ukraine besieged by Russian forces.
He explained that on Friday, humanitarian corridors could be used in three areas: Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporozhye. “We managed to rescue 6,266 people, including 3,071 from Mariupol,” he said.
It was not immediately clear if these people had left Mariupol or if they had previously left the city alone before being transported by bus to Zaporozhye.
On Friday night, the French Agency reported that about 30 buses entered the city of Zaporizhia. Some buses carried people who had left Mariupol on their own and were then transported by buses to areas controlled by Ukrainian forces.
These residents of Mariupol had managed to reach the Russian-occupied city of Berdyansk, with the people of the convoy offering to help them, according to testimonies of people in the French Agency and officials.
It was not clear if Zelensky was referring to these individuals.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (DEES), which was to assist in the evacuation of civilians, announced on Friday that members of the commission sent to Mariupol had been forced to return as the planned evacuation of thousands of civilians from this port city besieged by Russian forces was “impossible”. “to be done yesterday.
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