The Russians would be able to take control of their territory by capturing Mariupol, which was the site of some the worst wartime suffering. They are currently in the midst of the largest land invasion in Europe since World War II.
“Children and elderly are dying. The city has been destroyed and is wiped off the surface of the earth,” Mariupol Police Officer Michail Vershnin stated from a rubble-strewn alley in a video addressed at Western leaders, which was authenticated by The Associated Press.
According to a Ukrainian military official speaking to The New York Times, details about the rocket attack that claimed 40 lives in Mykolaiv’s southern city on Friday also started to emerge.
Russian forces have already isolated Mariupol from the Sea of Azov. Their fall would connect Crimea, which Russia annexed last year, to the eastern territories of Moscow-backed separatists. This would be a rare victory in the face of the fierce Ukrainian resistance, which has thwarted Russia’s hopes of a quick victory and galvanized West.
According to Vadym Denysenko (a consultant to Ukraine’s interior minister), the Azovstal steel facility in Mariupol was seized by Russian and Ukrainian forces. Denysenko stated in televised remarks that “one of the largest metallurgical plant in Europe is being actually destroyed.”
Hours later, Mariupol’s city council claimed that Russian soldiers had forced several thousand residents to relocate to Russia, mainly women and children. The claim was not confirmed by the Associated Press, as it didn’t specify where in Russia.
Oleksiy Arestovych was a consultant to the president of Ukraine. He stated that the closest forces that could help Mariupol’s defenses were fighting against the “overwhelming force of the enemy” or at most 100 kilometers (60 miles).
He said Friday that there is no military solution for Mariupol. “This is not my opinion. It is the opinion the military.”
Rescuers in Mykolaiv searched the rubble of the destroyed marine barracks. According to the governor of the region, the attack occurred while the marines were sleeping.
It’s not clear how many Marines were in the barracks at the time of the missile strike. Rescuers were still looking for survivors in the rubble on Saturday. However, a senior Ukrainian military officer spoke out to The New York Times under anonymity to disclose sensitive information. He estimated that up to 40 marines were killed in the attack on Ukrainian forces.
Ukrainian President Volodomir Zelenskyy has not lost his cool, and appeared in a video that was recorded on Saturday morning in Kyiv.
Zelenskyy stated that Russia wants to subjugate Ukraine’s cities, but warned that sustaining the invasion will cause a serious financial blow to Russia. He called on Russian President Vladimir Putin again to meet him to stop more bloodshed.
“The time is right to restore territorial integrity, justice and justice for Ukraine. He said that Russia’s costs would be so high that they won’t be able to rise again in the next several generations.
Putin was seen Friday at a Moscow rally where he praised Russia’s military.
Putin stated to the cheering crowd, “We haven’t had unity like that for a long while.”
The rally took place as Russia has faced heavier-than-expected losses on the battlefield and increasingly authoritarian rule at home, where Russian police have detained thousands of antiwar protesters.
While estimates of Russian deaths vary , even conservative figures can be estimated to be in the thousands. During its 2008 war against Georgia, Russia lost 64 soldiers in just five days. Over the past 10 years, it lost approximately 15,000 Afghans and more than 11,000 in Chechnya.
Russian military claimed Saturday that its latest hypersonic missile was used in combat for the first-time. Major General Igor Konashenkov stated that Kinzhal missiles destroyed a underground warehouse housing Ukrainian missiles and ammunition in the western Ivano-Frankivsk area of Ukraine.
Russia claims that the Kinzhal is carried by MiG-31 fighter planes and has a range up to 2,000 km (about 1,250 miles). It also flies at 10x the speed sound.
John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, stated Saturday that the U.S. could not confirm the Russians used a hypersonic weapon in the attack.
U.N. agencies have confirmed 847 civilian deaths since the conflict began. However, they acknowledge that the true number is much higher. According to the U.N. more then 3.3 million people fled Ukraine as refugees.
A Ukrainian woman named Irina waited to board a bus near the Moldova-Ukraine border. She said that she had decided to leave her home in Mykolaiv after hearing a loud explosion, which woke her daughter.
Irina said, “Can you imagine my fear, not for myself but for my child?” She didn’t give her last name. “So we decided to arrive here. But I don’t know where or how we’ll be staying.
According to the Kyiv regional administration, Saturday saw heavy fire in Bucha, Hostomel and Irpin, which are all located north of Kyiv. Slavutich was located 165 km (103 miles) north the capital.
Ukrainian and Russian officials have agreed to create 10 humanitarian corridors to bring aid in and residents out besieged cities, one from Mariupol, several around Kyiv, and one in the eastern Luhansk area, said Iryna Vereshchuk (Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine).
She also announced her plans to deliver humanitarian aid in the south city of Kherson which Russia took early in the war.
While Russia and Ukraine have had several rounds of talks aimed at ending the conflict, they remain divided on many issues. Russia is pressing for demilitarization while Kyiv demands security guarantees.
Putin called Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel on Saturday. This is the second conversation between the two of them this week. The Kremlin readout of the conversation shows that Putin “outlined fundamental assessments about the course of talks between Russian representatives and Ukrainian representatives,” while Bettel told him about “contacts to the leadership of Ukraine” and “other countries.”
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss accused Putin of using talks to distract from his forces’ reorganization. She told the Times of London that she did not see any plans to withdraw Russian troops.
During a Saturday visit by Lloyd Austin to NATO ally Bulgaria on Saturday, U.S. Defense secretary Lloyd Austin stated that the Russian invasion was “stalled” on “a number of fronts”, but the U.S. hadn’t yet seen any indications that Putin was sending additional forces.
In Ukraine, many hospitals, schools, and other buildings that provide safety were attacked.
The Wednesday bombing at Mariupol’s theater was a success with 130 survivors. However, another 1,300 people were still believed to be inside, Ludmyla Deniisova, the human rights commissioner for the Ukrainian Parliament, stated Friday.
Denisova said that while they pray for their survival, there is not much information.
Maxar Technologies’ satellite image confirmed earlier reports that a large part of the theater had been destroyed. It also revealed that the word “CHILDREN”, which was still in Russian, was visible outside the building in large white letters.
Zelenskyy stated that more than 9,000 people were allowed to leave Mariupol Friday on a route that runs 227 km (141 miles) to Zaporizhzhia, which is also under attack.
Oleksandr Starukh (the governor of Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine) announced a 38-hour curfew Friday after missile strikes on Zaporizhzhia suburbs left nine people dead.
According to the Ukrainian national police, Russian forces fired on eight villages and cities in eastern Donetsk in the last 24 hours. This includes Mariupol.
It said that the rocket attacks and heavy artillery caused numerous civilian deaths and damage to at least 37 buildings and facilities including a school and a museum.
Military veterans were instructing civilians how to use firearms and grenades in Lviv, Ukraine’s western capital.
“It’s difficult, because I have very weak hands, but it is possible,” stated Katarina Ishchenko, a 22-year-old trainee.
