Ukraine was preparing on Sunday to fight a “big battle” in the east of its territory, a priority target for Moscow, where the evacuation of civilians continues in fear of an imminent offensive.
“Ukraine is ready for the big battles. Ukraine must win them, including in the Donbass”, the eastern region of the country, declared Saturday evening the Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaïlo Podoliak, quoted by the Interfax-Ukraine press agency.
Airstrikes and bombardments continued at the same time on Ukraine. On Sunday morning, shelling in Kharkiv and its suburbs killed at least two people, regional governor Oleg Sinegoubov announced on Facebook.
“The Russian army continues to wage war on civilians, for lack of victories on the front,” he denounced, indicating that in the past 24 hours, Kharkiv and its suburbs had been bombed 66 times.
On Saturday, before in turn receiving British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed during a press conference with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer: “We are ready to fight, and to seek parallel diplomatic channels to stop this war”.
On Sunday morning, he said in a tweet that he spoke on the phone with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “We agreed that all perpetrators of war crimes must be identified and punished,” he wrote.
After withdrawing its troops from the kyiv region and northern Ukraine, Russia has made its priority the total conquest of Donbass, part of which has been controlled since 2014 by pro-Russian separatists.
Weapons for kyiv
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson paid a surprise visit to kyiv on Saturday and promised armored vehicles to Ukraine.
He paid tribute to the Ukrainian army for “the greatest feat of arms of the 21and century” which helped defend kyiv and defeat “Putin’s monstrous designs”, according to a statement from Downing Street.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “suffered a setback. […] He will step up the pressure now in the Donbass and the East,” Mr Johnson warned.
“That is why it is so vital […] that we, your friends, continue to offer whatever support we can,” he added, pledging to supply kyiv with armored vehicles and anti-ship missiles.
Boris Johnson is the first leader of a G7 country to visit the Ukrainian capital, threatened with an assault and bombed just a week ago, and where Volodymyr Zelensky has taken refuge since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, commanding the respect of the whole world.
“Other western democratic states must follow the example of the United Kingdom”, commented the Ukrainian president. “It is time to impose a total embargo on Russian hydrocarbons, to increase arms deliveries” to Ukraine.
EU foreign ministers, who will meet in Luxembourg on Monday, will consider a sixth sanctions package against Moscow, which will not, however, affect oil and gas purchases.
The head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell announced his intention to launch discussions on an oil embargo on Monday, “but a formal proposal is not on the table”, admitted a senior European official on Friday. For his part, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the Alliance was preparing plans for a permanent military force on its borders to prevent any further Russian aggression.
“What we see now is a new reality, a new normal for European security. For this reason, we have asked our military commanders to provide options for what we call a reset, a long-term adaptation of NATO,” he said in an interview published Saturday by the British newspaper Daily. Telegraph.
This new force will be, he added, a “long-term consequence” of the invasion of Ukraine ordered by Vladimir Putin.
Evacuations and bombings
On Sunday, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said 4,532 civilians had been evacuated the day before.
The majority left the Zaporizhia region, she added, adding that nearly 200 people were able to leave the besieged port city of Mariupol and more than a thousand fled Melitopol, Lysychansk, Severodonetsk, Rubizhne, Kreminna and Popasna in the Luhansk region.
“The Russian enemy continues to prepare to intensify its offensive operations in eastern Ukraine and take full control of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions”, in Donbass, the general staff of the Ukrainian army on Saturday in a daily update on Facebook.
In addition to continuing fighting to take control of the key towns of Mariupol in the south and Izium further north, “the enemy continues to strike with missiles civilian targets throughout Ukraine”, warned the Staff.
Bombings left 5 dead and 5 injured on Saturday in the Donetsk region, regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram in the evening.
Awaiting a major Russian offensive, Ukrainian soldiers and members of the Territorial Defense were busy fortifying their positions and digging new trenches in the rural area of Barvinkove in the east of the country. The roadsides were mined, and anti-tank obstacles installed at all crossroads.
Seven missiles fell overnight from Saturday to Sunday in the Mykolayiv region, about 100 kilometers northeast of Odessa, the country’s third largest city and major strategic port on the Black Sea, according to the local military command.
In Rome, Pope Francis called for an “Easter truce to achieve peace through real negotiations”.
“Let an Easter truce begin, but not to reload the weapons and resume the fight. No. A truce to achieve peace through real negotiations,” he said after celebrating Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square in public.
President Vladimir Putin, whose decision to invade Ukraine shattered over fierce Ukrainian resistance, has scaled back his plans but wants to secure a victory in Donbass ahead of the May 9 military parade marking the Square Red the Soviet victory over the Nazis, the culmination of the militaristic narrative he imposed in Russia, observers note.