Ukraine readies for ‘big battles’ with Russian forces as Britain sends armoured vehicles
US President Joe Biden accuses Russia of being behind a ‘horrific atrocity’ in the attack on Kramatorsk railway station.
Ukraine is preparing for “big battles” against Moscow’s forces in the east of the country as thousands of civilians flee in fear of an imminent Russian offensive.
Evacuations resumed on Saturday from Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, where a missile strike killed 52 people at a railway station a day earlier, as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson became the latest Western leader to visit Kyiv.
Hailing the country’s response to the Russian invasion, Mr Johnson offered Ukraine armoured vehicles and anti-ship missiles to help ensure, he said, that the country will “never be invaded again”. His offer came after President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv was readying for a Russian onslaught.
“Sadly, in parallel we see the preparations for important battles, some people say decisive ones, in the east,” he said at a press conference with visiting Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer.
“We are ready to fight and to look in parallel to end this war through diplomacy.”
Presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak said Ukraine must beat back Russia in the eastern Donbas region, where Moscow controls two separatist territories, before a meeting can take place between the Ukrainian leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Ukraine is ready for big battles. Ukraine must win them, including in the Donbas. And once that happens, Ukraine will have a more powerful negotiating position,” he said. “After that the presidents will meet. It could take two weeks, three.”
Six weeks into Russia’s invasion, Moscow has shifted its focus to eastern and southern Ukraine after stiff resistance thwarted plans to swiftly capture Kyiv.
With thousands killed in the fighting and more than 11 million fleeing their homes or the country, the Ukrainian president called on the West to follow Britain’s example on military aid.
“We need even more sanctions” against Russia, Mr Zelensky said in a video address. “We need more weapons for our state.”
EU leaders were meeting with Mr Zelensky in Kyiv on Friday as news emerged of the attack on Kramatorsk’s station. The 52 victims included five children.
US President Joe Biden accused Russia of being behind a “horrific atrocity” in Kramatorsk, and France condemned the strike as a “crime against humanity”.
Moscow denied responsibility for the rocket attack, which also wounded 109 people.
As Russian forces regroup in the east and south of Ukraine, local officials are urging residents to flee before it is too late.
The mayor of eastern Lysychansk, Oleksandr Zaika, asked residents to evacuate as soon as possible due to constant shelling by the Russian army. “It has become very difficult in the city, enemy shells are already flying,” Mr Zaika said in a video message.
While the city had stocks of humanitarian aid, he added, “that doesn’t mean it will save your life if an enemy shell arrives”.
Speaking from Warsaw, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said a global pledging event for Ukrainian refugees has raised €10.1bn ($14.7bn). In another sign of Western solidarity, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance was drawing up plans for a permanent military force on its border to prevent further Russian aggression. “What we see now is a new reality, a new normal for European security. Therefore, we have now asked our military commanders to provide options for what we call a reset, a longer-term adaptation of NATO,” he told Britain’s Daily Telegraph.
He said the new force would be one of the “long-term consequences” of Mr Putin’s invasion.
Russian troops appear intent on creating a long-sought land link between occupied Crimea and the Moscow-backed separatist territories of Donetsk and Lugansk in the Donbas region.
Growing evidence of atrocities has also galvanised Ukraine’s allies in the EU, which has approved an embargo on Russian coal, frozen billions in assets of sanctioned individuals and ordered the closure of its ports to Russian vessels.
Ukraine said on Saturday it had completed a third prisoner exchange with Russia, bringing 12 soldiers and 14 civilians home.
But Moscow said Russian troops also fired on a Ukrainian vessel trying to evacuate commanders of the Azov battalion from the besieged southeastern city of Mariupol. The Azov Special Operations Detachment has been fighting Russian forces in Mariupol – scene of some of the war’s most grievous civilian suffering – as it lies between Russia-occupied Crimea and the pro-Russian separatist regions in Ukraine’s east.
AFP
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