The Ukrainian army faces a new offensive by Russian forces on Kiev, Kharkiv, the port of Mariupol and other cities on Tuesday, the day after unsuccessful talks amid growing Western sanctions against Russia.
On the sixth day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the central square of Kharkiv, the country’s second city with 1.4 million inhabitants, close to the Russian border, was bombarded and the regional prefecture affected, indicated the regional governor Oleg Sinegoubov, in a video on Telegram showing the explosion.
At least 20 people were injured, according to city emergency services.
Fighting also took place on Monday in Okhtyrka, about 100 kilometers northwest of Kharkiv, which killed “about 70 Ukrainian fighters” but also many Russians, according to local authorities. When questioned, the Ukrainian army did not confirm this assessment.
Russian forces “have regrouped, accumulating armored vehicles, missiles and artillery to encircle and capture Kiev, Kharkiv, Odessa, Kherson and Mariupol,” the Ukrainian presidency said.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu seemed to confirm the escalation of the offensive, stressing that “the special military operation” – an expression used by Moscow to designate the invasion – would continue “until the objectives set are reached”.
In a new video message, President Volodymyr Zelensky denounced “a war crime” in Kharkiv, and stressed that the defense of Kiev was “the priority”.
Satellite photos released overnight by US satellite imagery company Maxar showed a Russian convoy stretching for tens of kilometers and heading towards the Ukrainian capital from the northwest.
Witness of the Russian advance, the maneuvers of the Ukrainian army, lines of trucks and tanks, tightened to the west and north of the capital, noted AFP.
“Shooting and shelling woke us up all night,” said Natasha, 51, who opened a canteen in the church to feed soldiers and volunteers in the village of Chaika, west of Kiev.
The Ukrainian general staff also cited an assault he said was repelled near Chernihiv, northeast of Kiev, another area from which the Russians would advance on the capital.
In the center of Kiev, where the snow fell during the night, the shops of first necessity still open were always full. Residents who did not flee have erected barricades and dug trenches in recent days.
The Russian offensive was also intensifying in the south of the country. Electricity was cut Tuesday morning in the large port of Mariupol after a Russian attack, according to the governor of the Donetsk region of which it is a part.
Denis Pouchiline, leader of the pro-Russian separatists who have partially held this region since 2014, said the objective was to encircle this strategic city during the day.
The capture of Mariupol would allow the junction between the Russian forces advancing along the coast of the Sea of Azov from the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow in 2014, and those coming from the east from the separatist territories.
The Russian army has also set up roadblocks at the entrances to the coastal city of Kherson (290,000 inhabitants), further west, according to its mayor, Igor Kolikhaïev. Videos of residents posted on social media show Russian soldiers in the locality.
“Economically destroy” Russia
Faced with this development, President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was to address around 11:30 GMT (6:30 a.m. Eastern time) by videoconference to the European Parliament, called on the international community on Tuesday morning to work towards “a total closure to Russia from “all ports” and “airports of the world”. »
He called for “economically destroying” Russia, when almost all air links between Russia and Europe are already suspended.
Westerners seem ready to adopt this objective. They announced Monday evening, after a new exchange between American President Joe Biden and his French, American, British, Canadian, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish and Romanian allies, that they intended to further toughen the sanctions on a scale already historic adopted against Russia.
Sanctions to which have rallied banking centers very popular with large Russian fortunes, such as Switzerland, yet attached to its neutrality, or Monaco.
“We are going to cause the collapse of the Russian economy,” said French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, whose country holds the presidency of the European Union, on Tuesday.
“Vladimir Putin underestimated the unity and determination of the West and the rest of the world,” also said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Almost all air links between Russia and Europe are already suspended. Maritime transport giant Maersk announced on Tuesday that it was suspending its service to Russian ports, excluding food, medical and humanitarian products.
The international community is stepping up retaliatory measures against Russia, trying to deprive it of international funding and blocking the assets of Vladimir Putin and all those close to him.
Russia is now excluded from a multitude of cultural and sporting events, including the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
But despite unprecedented Western pressure, and demonstrations against the war and expressions of solidarity for Ukraine in many countries, Vladimir Putin maintains his demands.
During an exchange on Monday with French President Emmanuel Macron, he laid down as conditions the recognition of Crimea as Russian territory, the demilitarization and “denazification” of Ukraine, at a time when the first Russian-Russian talks were being held. Ukrainians. Conditions reiterated by his defense minister on Tuesday.
The Russian and Ukrainian delegations separated a few hours later for “consultations in their respective capitals”, without making any declarations, except that they could meet again “soon”.
Mr. Zelensky underlined Tuesday that “the synchronization of the shootings with the process of negotiations was obvious”.
The Kremlin deemed it premature to “give an assessment” of these first negotiations.
A million displaced
The conflict has thrown floods of Ukrainians onto the roads, more than 660,000 of whom have fled to neighboring countries since Thursday, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said on Tuesday.
And long lines of cars continued to drive towards the Polish border, from the big city in western Ukraine, Lviv. The EU expects more than seven million displaced people.
The UN estimates the number of internally displaced people at one million people in Ukraine, an official from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced on Tuesday.
“It is important to remember that most of the people affected are in Ukraine,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR’s head for Ukraine.
The extent of the human losses remains uncertain. The UN spoke on Monday of 102 civilians killed and 304 injured, but the actual figures are “significantly” higher.
Ukraine on Monday reported 352 civilians killed and 2,040 injured since Thursday and said thousands of Russian soldiers had perished.
Russian forces have so far provided no toll for what they call a “special military operation”, but have admitted casualties in unspecified numbers.