Kyiv suburbs under fire – Ten humanitarian corridors for beleaguered population

Berlin, Dusseldorf, New York Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged Russia to engage in serious and honest talks on a peace settlement. Meanwhile, fighting continues in many places.

The military situation

Fighting continued on several fronts in Ukraine. The Russian military again shelled suburbs of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Saturday. The suburbs of Bucha, Hostomel, Irpin and Moschchun were affected. The Kyiv regional administration said the town of Slavutych north of the capital was “completely isolated”. Russian military equipment has been sighted in the region northeast and east of Kyiv.

In the port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian and Russian soldiers fought over the Azovstal Steelworks, one of the largest in Europe. Advisor to the Ukrainian Interior Minister, Vadym Denysenko, said on Ukrainian television on Saturday: “I can say that we have lost this economic giant.” And: “In fact, one of the largest metallurgical plants in Europe will be destroyed.”

The Russian military announced the first combat use of the hypersonic missile Kinzhal. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konoshenkov said on Saturday that an underground ammunition depot of the Ukrainian Air Force in the western Ivano-Frankivsk region was destroyed.

Konashenkov also said Russian forces used the Bastion anti-ship missile system to attack military installations near Odessa. Russia first used this weapon system in Syria in 2016.

According to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine and Russia have agreed on ten humanitarian corridors. According to Saturday’s information, this includes a corridor from the embattled Mariupol, as well as several in the Kyiv and Luhansk regions. Vereshchuk also announced plans to deliver humanitarian aid to the city of Kherson, which is currently controlled by the Russian military.

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said on Saturday that 112 children had been killed since the Russian attack on the country began. In addition, 140 children were injured.

The Chernobayevka airport near Cherson in southern Ukraine is also still the focus of bitter fighting, according to the Ukrainian account. “We met them there again,” wrote Oleksiy Arestovich, adviser to President Zelensky’s office chief, on Facebook early Saturday morning, referring to the Russian troops.

The Ukrainian armed forces attacked the Russian military at this airport for the sixth time and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy there. In a series of local counterattacks and attacks with combat drones, several dozen Russian combat helicopters and, most recently, a command post with high-ranking officers have been destroyed since the end of February. This information could not be independently verified.

Meanwhile, Ukraine lost access to the Sea of ​​Azov during the Russian siege of the key port city of Mariupol, according to its own general staff on Friday evening. Russian troops continued to attempt to storm the city itself and fighting continued, sources said.

There are also no signs of relaxation in the capital Kyiv. At least 50,000 civilians were recently evacuated from combat zones north and northwest of the city. Now the authorities tried to evacuate other, more dangerous hotspots.

The humanitarian situation

The Ukrainian President has accused the Russian armed forces of wanting to bring the population to its knees by blockading the largest cities. He said the Russians were preventing supplies from reaching the encircled towns in the center of the country and the south-east. He warned on Saturday that this strategy will fail and Moscow will lose in the long run if it does not end the war in Ukraine.

“The time has come to restore territorial integrity and justice to Ukraine. Otherwise, the cost to Russia will be so high that it will not be able to get up for several generations.” He credited the Kremlin with a “premeditated tactic” to create a humanitarian catastrophe in order to force Ukrainians to cooperate.

He again appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet with him. He referred to a rally at a Moscow stadium attended by 200,000 people on Friday to highlight what is at stake.

“Imagine that in this stadium in Moscow there are 14,000 corpses and tens of thousands more injured and maimed. This is the Russian cost during the invasion,” he explained in his nightly video address recorded outside the Presidential Office in Kyiv. The anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 was celebrated in the Moscow stadium.

Meanwhile, the EU Commission is even warning of an impending famine in the country. “People in the besieged cities are exposed to apocalyptic conditions – no food, no water, no medical care and no way out,” said Janez Lenarcic, the EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Protection in the “Welt am Sonntag”.

The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine is already critical, but it could get worse. “This ruthless invasion began more than three weeks ago, but we are already beginning to see famine developing.”

A special focus is once again on the port city of Mariupol, which has epitomized the horror of the Russian invasion of Ukraine since the beginning of the war. Eyewitnesses from the city report that supermarkets have been looted and that people are already starving.

So far, essential supplies have always made it into the city, says Lenarcic. “The big problem is access. It is an obligation to provide humanitarian access without any obstacle.”

The European Commission is expanding its humanitarian aid with local partners, the EU Commissioner promised. “But as long as the fighting continues and there is no ceasefire, the people who need life-saving aid cannot be reached.”

On Friday, 9,000 people managed to leave the besieged city of Mariupol. So far, more than 180,000 people have reached safety through humanitarian corridors. More recent figures are not known.

The situation at the peace talks

While the fighting continues, negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are also ongoing. It remains difficult to paint a clear picture of the progress of the negotiations. Moscow speaks of recognizable compromises – especially on the question of Ukraine’s neutral status. Kyiv apparently does not share this assessment so far.

>> Read here: Scenarios for the end of the Ukraine war: A long road to the ceasefire

In his video message that night, Zelensky again called on Russia to negotiate seriously and honestly. “Meaningful negotiations on peace and security for Ukraine, honest negotiations and without delays are the only chance for Russia to lessen the damage from its own mistakes.”

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused the US of making the peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv more difficult. “When[Ukrainian President Volodymyr]suggested negotiations with Zelensky, our President agreed, negotiations are ongoing,” Lavrov said on Saturday, according to the Interfax agency. “Some of the dialogue has improved, although there is a constant feeling that the Ukrainian delegation is being held by the hand, most likely by the Americans, and not being allowed to agree to the demands, which in my opinion are absolutely minimal. “

Zelensky reiterated his call for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on a peaceful solution. “It’s time to talk,” he said. The Kremlin has so far rejected this, wanting to create content for such a meeting that corresponds to its own ideas beforehand in the negotiations with Kyiv.

The warring parties have been conducting negotiations on this since February 28, most recently via video link almost daily. In addition to Ukraine’s neutrality, Russia is striving to demilitarize the country, among other things. In addition to an immediate ceasefire, Ukraine is demanding the withdrawal of Russian troops and subsequent concrete security guarantees.

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The President of the Ukrainian Parliament, Ruslan Stefanschuk, also recently continued to emphasize his country’s red lines in the negotiations with Russia: the territorial integrity of Ukrainian and state independence. These demands are “unchangeable”.

Zelensky again called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet in person. “It’s time to meet, to talk,” he said. “I want to be heard by everyone, especially in Moscow.”

What does the day bring?

Peace rallies and demonstrations against the war in Ukraine are planned in several cities in Germany. US Secretary of Defense Austin is continuing his visit to Bulgaria and wants to talk to Prime Minister Kiril Petkov about the situation in Ukraine, among other things.

With agency material

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