The Ukrainian authorities try to evacuate civilians from the regions in eastern part of the countrythreatened with an imminent large-scale attack by the Russian army, while the president Volodymyr Zelensky announced that the disasters in Borodianka is even worse from those recently found in suburbs of the capital recaptured after the withdrawal of Russian troops.
As Russia multiplies the blows in the south and in the eastern part of the countryKyiv – where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is expected today and EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell – notes the real extent of the damage in areas where Moscow.
The Ukrainian president Zelensky said the disasters in Borodyanka are worse than those in Boukawhere images of civilian corpses on the streets caused an international outcry.
Twenty-six corpses were rescued by Ukrainian rescue teams in Wreckage of two apartment buildings in Borodyankanorthwest of Kiev, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Irina Venediktova said via Facebook on Thursday.
In his speech on the night of Thursday to Friday, the Ukrainian president Zelensky described the situation in Borodyanka as “much more horrible” than in Bouka: “The victims are more”.
Attention is also focused on the eastern part of the country, now a priority target for Moscow forces. The Kremlin spokesman acknowledged yesterday that Russian forces had already suffered “Great losses” in the warreferring to a “huge tragedy” for Russia.
In anticipation of the large-scale attack there, the Ukrainian authorities again called on the civilian population to leave.
Russian forces “caused damage to the railways in Sastia. “Now the evacuation will be done exclusively by buses,” said Luhansk region governor Serhiy Gaidai.
“All the horrors that we experienced there is a risk of getting worse. Do not condemn yourself to death! Leave! “The next few days will be the last chance” for the evacuation of civilians, “he said via Facebook.
In Donetskthe head of the regional military administration Pavel Kirilenko said that three trains carrying civilians were temporarily stopped after a Russian air strike on rails.
“Everywhere” bombings
In Severodonetskthe easternmost city in the hands of the Ukrainian forces, pounded by the Russian troops, journalists of the French Agency saw on Thursday civilians leaving by car, in the middle of explosions.
A “large” number of displaced people reached Dniprosaid yesterday the mayor of the industrial city of one million inhabitants on Δνείπεροthe river that forms a natural border with the eastern part of the country.
In Russiacharged with “war crimes” in Ukraine, was imposed yesterday Thursday EU carbon embargo. This is the first time that Europeans have targeted the Russian energy sector, on which they remain highly dependent.
The EU imports 45% of the coal it consumes from Russia, at a cost of € 4 billion a year. The embargo will take effect in early August.
Brussels has also announced a ban on exports to Russia of more than 10 billion euros, new sanctions on Russian banks and the closure of European ports on Russian ships.
At the same time, the EU is preparing to release another 500m euros to supply arms to Ukraine. With this amount, European spending on military aid to Ukrainian forces will reach 1.5 billion euros since the outbreak of war on 24 February.
For their part, the G7 countries also announced additional sanctions, including a complete ban on any new investment in key sectors of Russia.
In Washington, the way was opened for the imposition of punitive tariffs on Russia and Belarus: the US Congress revoked their preferential trade regime.
“Insult to humanity”
“Russia’s lies do not stand up to the overwhelming evidence of what is happening in Ukraine,” he said, referring to “rape, torture and executions” which he described as “an insult to humanity”.
The new sanctions came after dozens of corpses were found politically, some handcuffed, in areas where Russian troops had withdrawn, particularly in the Kiev suburb of Bukhara. Ukraine and the West accuse the Russian military of “war crimes”. Russia denies that its forces are responsible for the deaths of civilians and speaks of a Ukrainian “provocation”.
Last night, a Russian missile hit infrastructure in the Odessa region, the city council of the city of this southern Ukraine reported via Telegram, without mentioning any casualties.
In Mariupol (southeast), another port of strategic importance that has been besieged and badly damaged by the Russian army since the end of February, and where an estimated 100,000 inhabitants are trapped, the new “mayor” named by the pro-Russian forces announced yesterday “about 5,000” civilians have been killed.
“About 60 to 70 percent of the buildings have been completely or partially destroyed,” added Konstantin Ivachenko, who was named “mayor” of the city on Wednesday by Denis Pushilin, the leader of the Danetsk separatists. Ukrainian authorities have announced a much heavier death toll.
“Support” and weapons
As it prepares for the attack on Donbass, Kyiv is demanding help from the West. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister went to Brussels to demand immediate arms deliveries from his counterparts in the Atlantic Alliance.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has promised “significant assistance”, saying it was “preferable” not to “look too specific about the weapons” to be sent to the Ukrainian army.
In the diplomatic aspect of the crisis, there is not the slightest sign of progress. Russia complained on Thursday that Ukraine had withdrawn its consent to some of Moscow’s proposals in the March talks in Istanbul. Kyiv responded immediately, demanding that Moscow reduce its “degree of hostility” in the talks, while Dmitry Kuleba accused his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov of becoming an “accomplice to the crimes.”
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