Ukraine: 2,000 dead in Mariupol – Britain speaks of indiscriminate bombing

LAST UPDATE: 16:15

The British Ministry of Defense said today in the latest update of the intelligence services, that Russia prefers “indiscriminate” bombing and that it will probably continue to use “heavy fire” in urban areas.

“Russian forces are reluctant to engage in large-scale infantry operations in cities, preferring to rely on indiscriminate use of airstrikes and artillery bombardment in an effort to discourage defending forces,” the ministry said.

“It is possible that Russia will continue to use its heavy firepower in urban areas as it seeks to limit its own already significant losses, at the cost of further civilian casualties.”

Russia “continues to besiege” several major Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol, the ministry added.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Verestsuk said an agreement had been reached to set up ten humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from the front lines in Ukrainian cities and villages.

Speaking on public television, he said that civilians trying to leave the besieged Mariupol should do so in private cars as Russian forces do not allow buses to pass through checkpoints set up around the southern port city.

Reuters could not confirm this information from an independent source.

Ukraine and Russia blamed each other when humanitarian corridors failed in recent weeks.

The mayor of the besieged city of Mariupol said on Saturday that he had spoken to the French ambassador to Ukraine about options for evacuating civilians, after French President Emanuel Macron said he would propose a plan to Russia to help people flee. .

Speaking on national television, Mayor Vadym Boichenko said the situation in the besieged city remained critical, with street battles taking place in its center.

In Mariupol, at least 2,000 people have been killed, according to the city council. More than 100,000 people have not yet been evacuated from the besieged Mariupol region of Ukraine, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Verestsuk told national television today.

Russian forces have taken control of the town of Slavutich, home to workers at the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Kyiv region governor Oleksandr Pavlyuk said on Saturday.

In an online statement, Pavlyuk said Russian troops had taken over a hospital in Slavutych and abducted the mayor. Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

On Friday, Ukraine said its troops had repulsed a first attack by Russian troops approaching the city.

Zelensky: We dealt strong blows to the Russians

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pushed for further talks with Russia as Moscow signaled it was reducing its ambitions to focus on Russian-backed separatists in the east after attacks elsewhere stopped.

In a statement Friday that appeared to indicate more restrictive targets, the Russian Defense Ministry said that a first phase of its operation has largely been completed and will now focus on the Donbass region, which borders Russia and has separatist enclaves. support Moscow.

“The combat potential of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been significantly reduced, which allows us to focus our main efforts on achieving the main goal, the liberation of Donbass,” said Sergei Rudskoi, head of the Main Operations Directorate of the Russian Federation.

The Russian-backed separatist forces have been fighting Ukrainian forces in Donbas and the neighboring Luhansk region since 2014. They declared their independence with Moscow’s blessing – but were not recognized by the West – shortly before the February 24 invasion.

Moscow had said that the goals for what it called a “special operation” included the demilitarization and “de-Nazification” of Ukraine. Western officials have dismissed this as an unfounded pretext for a war that they say is aimed at overthrowing the Zelensky government.

Weeks of peace talks have failed to make significant progress. In a videotaped speech late Friday, Zelensky said resistance from his troops had dealt “severe blows” to Russia.

“Our defenders are leading the Russian leadership to a simple and logical idea: we must speak, we must speak effectively, urgently and fairly,” he said.

In what officials described as a keynote address in Poland, US President Joe Biden on Saturday “will make remarks on the united efforts of the free world to support the people of Ukraine, to hold Russia accountable for its brutal war, and “to defend a future rooted in democratic principles,” the White House said in a statement.

One hundred and thirty-six children have been killed since the Russian invasion began, Ukraine says

One hundred and thirty-six children have been killed since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began 31 days ago, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine announced today in a message to the Telegram messaging application.

Of the 136 children, 64 were killed in the Kiev region, the attorney general’s office said. Another 50 children were killed in the Donetsk region. In addition, 199 children have been injured.

Reuters was unable to confirm this report for the time being.

Ukrainian counterattack in Kyiv

The battle lines near Kyiv have been frozen for weeks with two main Russian armored phalanxes stuck northwest and east of the capital. A British intelligence report describes a Ukrainian counterattack that has pushed the Russians east.

“Ukrainian counterattacks and Russian forces retreating to oversupply supply lines have allowed Ukraine to retake cities and defenses up to 35 km east of Kiev,” the report said.

Shortly after 5.30pm on Saturday, sirens sounded in the Ukrainian capital for an air raid.

“Attention! An air raid alert has been sounded in Kyiv! We urge everyone to rush to the Civil Protection Shelters,” the Kyiv regional administration said in a statement to the Telegram.

Ukrainian authorities have urged residents not to ignore warnings of air raids.

Volodymyr Borysenko, mayor of Boryspol, an eastern suburb where Kiev’s main airport is located, said 20,000 people had been evacuated in response to a call to evacuate so that Ukrainian troops could retaliate.

On the other main front outside Kyiv, northwest of the capital, Ukrainian forces are trying to encircle Russian troops in the suburbs of Irpin, Butcha and Gostomel, which have been reduced to rubble by heavy fighting.

The cities of Chernihiv, Kharkiv and Sumy north and east of Kiev have also been bombed. Chernihiv was effectively surrounded by Russian forces, his governor said.

Kiev forces say they are continuing their counterattack in Kherson, in the south of the country, the only major city fully occupied by Moscow forces.

Britain has said it will fund 2 2m ($ 2.6m) in food supplies to areas besieged by Russian forces at the request of the Ukrainian government.

The United Nations has confirmed 1,081 civilian deaths and 1,707 injuries in Ukraine since the invasion, but says the actual toll is likely to be higher.

Russia’s Defense Ministry says 1,351 Russian soldiers have been killed and 3,825 wounded, according to the Interfax news agency. Ukraine says 15,000 Russian soldiers have died. Reuters could not independently verify the allegations.