The evacuations continued at Kramatorsk station on Saturday, the day after the attack on the station that left 52 dead. On the 45th day of the conflict, Boris Johnson traveled to Kiev, where he promised armored vehicles and anti-ship missiles to his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, as Ukraine expects more Russian operations in the East.
In the wake of the deadly attack on Kramatorsk station in eastern Ukraine, where civilians were trying to flee, evacuations continued in the region on Saturday, fearing an imminent Russian offensive.
In this tense context, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for “a strong global response” to the bombing of Kramatorsk station. He also reiterated that Kiev was “always ready” to hold talks with Russia, which had stalled after the discovery of atrocities in liberated cities.
Ukraine now expects Russian operations in eastern and southern Ukraine to increase as British intelligence has said it anticipates the Russian offensive around Donbass. While specifying that the Russian forces currently saw their plans thwarted by the Ukrainian resistance.
East prepares for worst, curfew in Odessa
In Kramatorsk, the latest assessment of the missile strike for the station reports 52 dead, including 5 children. The evacuations of civilians continued by road on Saturday. Moscow denies being responsible for the strike, going so far as to denounce a Ukrainian “provocation”.
At the same time, we were preparing for the worst in the east of the country. In addition to the ongoing battle for control of the main cities of Mariupol to the south and Izium further north, “the enemy continues to attack civilian targets with missiles all over Ukraine,” the state major of the Ukrainian army warned on Facebook. In the small town of Lysytchansk, in the Lugansk region, Mayor Olexander Zaika called on residents to leave as soon as possible.
Facing the “threat” of rocket attacks, a curfew will be in effect in the city of Odessa, Ukraine’s main Black Sea port from Saturday evening to Monday morning, according to local authorities. In addition, 10 humanitarian corridors were opened during the day to evacuate civilians from besieged areas: one of them has to leave Mariupol.
Serial diplomatic visits to Kiev, Zelensky calls for weapons
The British Prime Minister on Saturday promised on a surprise visit to Kiev to provide Ukraine with armored vehicles and anti-ship missiles, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Western countries to follow the United Kingdom’s lead on military aid to Ukraine and sanctions against Ukraine. . Russia. Kiev also calls for the “immediate” supply of weapons to face a new Russian offensive in the East.
“What Putin did to Boutcha and Irpin is war crimes and has permanently damaged his reputation and the representation of his government,” Boris Johnson, the first G7 leader to visit him, lamented at a news conference. Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
The day before, it was the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who had made the journey, including to Boutcha, a small town near the capital that has become a symbol of the atrocities of the Russian invasion.
Finally, Ukraine announced on Saturday that it had conducted a “third exchange” of prisoners with Russia since the start of the Russian invasion, which allowed the release of 12 soldiers and 14 Ukrainian civilians. “At the behest of President Volodymyr Zelensky, a third prisoner today, an exchange has taken place.
Twelve of our soldiers, including a female officer, are returning home. We have also authorized the release of 14 civilians, including nine women, representing a total of 26 people,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk wrote on Telegram.
Reshuffle and change of strategy at the head of the Russian army
A new leader, General Aleksander Dvornikov, has been appointed head of the Russian army command, an official Western source told the British channel on condition of anonymity. BBC† He is known to have bitten his teeth in Syria, where Russia has been supporting Bashar al-Assad’s forces since 2015.
This reshuffling is therefore equivalent to a radical change of strategy, an attempt to reorganize the command structures, with the idea of better aligning the different forces. With the purpose of power in mind celebrate a win in the Donbass by May 9th†
