Speaking after US President Joe Biden said in a scathing speech that Russian President Vladimir Putin could not stay in power – words that the White House immediately sought to downplay – Zelensky criticized the “Western ping-pong for who and what how to deliver the jets “. and other weapons, while Russian missile strikes kill and trap civilians. “I spoke with the defenders of Mariupol today. I am in constant contact with them. “Their determination, heroism and stability are astonishing,” Zelensky said in a video message early Sunday, referring to the besieged southern city that has suffered some of the greatest deprivations and horrors of war. to deliver dozens of jets and tanks had 1% of their courage “. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, now in its 32nd day, has halted in many areas, with the aim of quickly encircling the capital, Kyiv, and forcing its surrender by faltering in the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance – reinforced by US and Russian weapons. other western allies. The British Ministry of Defense said that Russian troops appear to be trying to encircle Ukrainian forces directly facing the two separatist-controlled areas in the east of the country. This will cut off most of Ukraine’s army from the rest of the country. Moscow says it is focusing on removing from Ukraine the entire area of eastern Donbass, which has been partly controlled by Russian-backed separatists since 2014. A senior Russian military official said on Friday that troops were being redirected eastward from other parts of the country. The leader of one of the separatist-held Donbass regions said Sunday he wanted a vote on joining Russia, words that could signal a change in Russia’s position. Leonid Pasechnik, leader of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Luhansk, said he planned to hold a referendum on becoming part of Russia “in the near future”. The story goes on Russia has backed separatist rebels in Luhansk and neighboring Donetsk since an uprising broke out there in 2014, shortly after Ukraine annexed the Crimean peninsula from Moscow. In talks with Ukraine so far, Moscow has urged Kyiv to recognize the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk. Ukraine says that in order to defeat Russia, it needs fighter jets, not just missiles and other defense weapons that the West has so far supplied. A proposal to transfer Polish planes to Ukraine via the United States has been canceled amid NATO concerns about involvement in a military conflict with Russia. In his sharp remarks, Zelensky accused Western governments of “being afraid to prevent this tragedy. “They are just afraid to make a decision.” “So who is responsible for the Euro-Atlantic community? Is it still Moscow, thanks to its terror tactics?” “Our partners must step up their assistance to Ukraine,” he said. His appeal was echoed by a priest in the western city of Lviv, which was hit by rockets on Saturday. The airstrikes have shown that Moscow, despite recent allegations that it intends to shift the war to the east, is willing to strike anywhere in Ukraine. “When diplomacy does not work, we need military support,” said Rev. Yuri Vaskiv, who on Sunday reported fewer parishioners than usual in the pews of his Greek Catholic church, probably out of fear. Referring to Putin, he said: “This evil is from him and we must stop it.” Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov confirmed that Russian forces had used cruise missiles fired from the air to hit a fuel depot and a defense plant in Liyev. Konashenkov said another rocket-propelled grenade fired from the sea destroyed a missile depot in Plesetsk, just west of the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. The strikes came as Biden wrapped up a visit to Poland, where he met with Ukraine’s foreign and defense ministers, visited US troops and saw refugees from the war. Before leaving, he issued a strong and highly personal condemnation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying: “In the name of God, this man can not remain in power.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov denounced the remarks, saying “it is not up to the US president and the Americans to decide who will remain in power in Russia.” US officials were quick to point out that Biden was not calling for an immediate change of government in Moscow. “We do not have a strategy of regime change in Russia or anywhere else on this issue,” said Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken during a visit to Israel. “In this case, as in any case, it depends on its people. This country depends on the Russian people.” A chemical stench was still in the air on Sunday as firefighters in Lviv, about 45 miles (72 kilometers) from the Polish border, had trained pipes in flames and black smoke falling from oil storage tanks was hit by the Russian attack. A security guard at the scene, Yaroslav Prokopiv, said he saw three rockets hit and destroy two oil tanks, but no one was injured. “The third blow threw me to the ground,” he said. Repeated airstrikes by Russia have shaken the city, which has become a haven for some 200,000 people who have fled the bombed-out cities. Lviv, which has largely escaped the bombing, has also been home to more than 3.8 million refugees who have fled Ukraine since the February 24 invasion of Russia. In the dim, bomb-filled shelter under a block of flats a short distance from the site of the first explosion, Olana Ukrainets, a 34-year-old IT professional, said she could not believe she had to hide again after leaving the northeastern city of Kharkiv. one of the most bombed cities of the war. “We were on one side of the road and we saw it on the other side,” he said. “We saw a fire. I said to my friend, “What is this?” “Then we heard the sound of an explosion and the breaking of glass.” In a video speech, Zelensky angrily warned Moscow that it was sowing deep hatred for Russia among the Ukrainian people as continuous artillery barricades and airstrikes reduced cities to ruins, killed civilians, and forced others to flee. for food. and water to survive. “Do everything possible for our people to abandon the Russian language, because the Russian language will now be associated only with you, with your explosions and murders, with your crimes,” Zelensky said. A nuclear research facility in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, came under fire again on Saturday. Ukraine’s nuclear guard said that due to the ongoing hostilities it was impossible to estimate the extent of the damage. Kharkiv, which is close to the Russian border, has been under siege by Russian forces since the beginning of the invasion and has received repeated bombings that have hit residential buildings and vital infrastructure. Ukrainian authorities have previously said that the Russian bombing caused damage to buildings in the facility, but there was no release of radioactivity. The International Atomic Energy Agency has said that nuclear material at the facility is always hypocritical and that stockpiles of radioactive material are very low, reducing the risk of radioactive release. Along with the 3.8 million people who have fled Ukraine, the invasion has driven more than 10 million people from their homes, almost a quarter of Ukraine’s population. Thousands of civilians are believed to have been killed. The unrest caused by the conflict and the extensive Western sanctions on Russia have also led to rising food and energy prices around the world. Kristalina Georgieva, chief executive of the International Monetary Fund, warned that the burden would fall on the poorest – and that, in turn, could cause unrest. “When prices go up and poor people can not feed their families, they will be on the streets,” he said. “One thing we know about problems in a place, it travels, it does not stay there.”
Andrea Rosa in Kharkov. Nebi Qena in Kyiv? Cara Anna in Lviv and Associated Press reporters around the world contributed to this report.
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