KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned his people early Saturday that retreating Russian forces were wreaking havoc outside the capital as they dropped mines “all over the ground”, even around houses and corpses.
It issued a warning as the humanitarian crisis in the besieged city of Mariupol deepened, with Russian forces blocking evacuation operations for a second day in a row, and the Kremlin accused Ukrainians of launching a helicopter attack on a Russian fuel depot.
Ukraine has denied responsibility for the blast, but if Moscow’s claim is confirmed, it will be the first known attack in the war in which Ukrainian aircraft penetrated Russian airspace.
“Certainly this is not something that can be seen as creating a comfortable environment for the talks to continue,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov, five weeks after Moscow began sending more than 150,000 troops across the border. of Ukraine.
Russia has continued to withdraw some of its ground forces from areas around Kyiv after announcing earlier this week that it would reduce military activity near the Ukrainian capital and the northern city of Chernihiv.
“They are mining the whole territory.  “They are mining houses, mining equipment and even the bodies of people who were killed,” Zelenski said in his nightly video address to the nation.  “There are a lot of travel cables, a lot of other dangers.”
He urged residents to wait for their normal lives to resume until they are sure the mines have been cleared and the bombing risk has passed.
As the Russians continued their bombardment around Kyiv and Chernihiv, Ukrainian troops took advantage of the retreat to the ground by launching counterattacks and retaking some towns and villages.
However, Ukraine and its allies have warned that the Kremlin is not de-escalating to boost confidence at the negotiating table, as it has claimed, but is instead resupplying and moving its troops to the east of the country.  These moves appear to be preparing for an intense attack on the predominantly Russian-speaking Donbass region in the east of the country, which includes Mariupol.
Zelensky warned of difficult battles as the Russians redeploy troops.  “We are preparing for an even more active defense,” he said.
He did not say anything about the last round of talks, which took place on Friday via video.  In a round of talks earlier in the week, Ukraine said it would be willing to abandon its bid to join NATO and declare neutrality – Moscow’s main demand – in exchange for security guarantees from many other countries.
The invasion has left thousands dead and has displaced more than 4 million refugees from Ukraine.
Mariupol, the devastated and besieged southern port city, has seen some of the worst of the war.  His arrest would be a major reward for Russian President Vladimir Putin, giving his country an unbreakable land bridge to Crimea, which was seized by Ukraine in 2014.
The fate of Mariupol could determine the course of negotiations to end the war, said Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Ukrainian think tank Penta.
“Mariupol has become a symbol of the Ukrainian resistance,” Fesenko said, “and without its conquest, Putin can not sit at the negotiating table.”  The fall of Mariupol, he said, “will pave the way for a peace agreement.”
On Friday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was unable to carry out an operation to evacuate civilians from Mariupol by bus.  He said a group was on its way, but had to go back.
City officials said the Russians were blocking access to Mariupol.
“We do not see any real desire on the part of the Russians and their satellites to provide an opportunity for the people of Mariupol to evacuate to Ukrainian-controlled territories,” Petro Andriuschenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, told the Telegram.  .
He said Russian forces “categorically do not allow any humanitarian cargo, even in small quantities, to enter the city.”
About 100,000 people are believed to have remained in the city, compared to 430,000 before the war, and weeks of Russian bombing and street fighting have caused severe shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine.
“We are running out of adjectives to describe the horror suffered by the people of Mariupol,” said Red Cross spokesman Juan Watson.
On Thursday, Russian forces blocked a 45-bus convoy trying to evacuate people from Mariupol and seized 14 tonnes of food and medical supplies destined for the city, Ukrainian authorities said.
Zelensky said more than 3,000 people were able to leave Mariupol on Friday.  She said she discussed the humanitarian catastrophe with French President Emmanuel Macron over the phone and with European Parliament President Roberta Metzola during her visit to Kyiv.
“Europe has no right to remain silent about what is happening in our Mariupol,” Zelenski said.  “The whole world must respond to this humanitarian catastrophe.”
Elsewhere, at least three Russian ballistic missiles were fired late Friday from the Crimean peninsula into the Black Sea region of Odessa, said regional leader Maksim Marchenko.  The Ukrainian military said the Iskander missiles were intended for critical infrastructure, but did not hit their targets due to Ukraine’s air defense forces.  It was not clear where they hit.  Martchenko said there were casualties, but gave no further details.
Odessa is the largest port in Ukraine and the seat of its navy.
Regarding the explosion at the fuel depot, the representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense Igor Konashenkov said that two Ukrainian helicopters flew at extremely low levels and attacked the oil storage facilities on the outskirts of the city of Belgorod, about 25 kilometers (16 miles) from the border. Ukraine.
The regional governor said two warehouse workers were injured, but state oil company Rosneft denied any injuries.
“For some reason they say we did it, but in reality it does not correspond to reality,” Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security Council of Ukraine, told Ukrainian television.
Russia has reported cross-border bombing by Ukraine in the past, including an incident last week that killed a military priest, but not an invasion of its airspace.
In the midst of Russia’s ground retreat and ongoing bombardment, the Ukrainian army said it had recaptured 29 settlements in the Kiev and Chernihiv regions.
Russian forces in the northeast also continued to bomb Kharkov and in the southeast they tried to occupy the cities of Popasna and Rubizne as well as Mariupol, the Ukrainian army said.
Russia, meanwhile, launched its annual spring conscription on Friday, which aims to bring together 134,500 men for a one-year military tour.  Russian officials say the recruits will not be sent to the front lines or “hot spots”, but many young Russians are skeptical and afraid they will be drawn into the war.
On the outskirts of Kiev, where Russian troops have withdrawn, damaged cars lined the streets of Irpin, a suburban area popular with young families that is now in ruins.  Emergency workers transported elderly people on stretchers over a damaged bridge to safety.
Three wooden crosses next to a residential building damaged by bombing marked the graves of mother and son and an unknown man.  A resident who gave her name only as Lila said she helped bury them in a hurry on March 5, shortly before Russian troops entered.
“They were hit by artillery and burned alive,” he said.
An Irpin resident, who gave his name only as Andriy, said the Russians packed up their weapons and left on Tuesday.  The next day, the city was bombed for almost an hour before Ukrainian troops took over.
“I do not think it’s over,” Andri said.  “They will return.”
Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine.  Andrea Rosa in Irpin, Ukraine, and Associated Press reporters around the world contributed to this report.