The great battle of Mariupol is not yet relevant as the statements of the leaders increased in number on Tuesday.
The battle for Mariupol has not yet started. 48 days after the war in Ukraine started, the two sides are preparing for a confrontation in this port city in the east of the country.
On Ukrainian soil, the recapture of territories by the Kiev forces brings with it the discovery of civilians killed by the Russian army. In particular, the soldiers of the Kremlin master are accused of the worst abuses by President Volodymyr Zelensky. Back to this new war day in Europe.
• More and more civilian casualties
In the eastern suburbs of Kiev, the bodies of six people who had been shot were found in the basement of a house. In the east of the country, in Severodonetsk, about 400 civilians have been buried since the war in Ukraine began.
With the withdrawal of Russian troops now concentrating on the east of the country, Ukrainians are gradually returning to their homes. More than 870,000 Ukrainians have returned home since the start of the war, according to Ukrainian border guard Andriy Demchenko. In the beginning it was mainly men, now there are also women, children and the elderly.
• Zelensky denounces “hundreds of rapes” committed by the Russian army
Volodymyr Zelensky denounced “hundreds of rapes” observed in areas previously occupied by the Russian army, “including young underage girls and very small children”.
“In the areas liberated from the occupying forces, the registration and investigation of war crimes committed by Russia continues. New mass graves are found almost daily,” the Ukrainian president said, addressing the Lithuanian parliament via video link. “Thousands and thousands of victims. Hundreds of torture cases. We continue to find bodies in the pipes and basements,” he continued.
Media reported testimonies confirm the fears of NGOs pointing to evidence of the use of rape as a “weapon of war”.
• Putin calls Boutcha massacre ‘fake’
The Russian president said the massacre of suspected civilians in the city of Boutcha near Kiev was “a fake”. Moscow denies any abuse of this nature in Ukraine.
Assured that his army’s offensive in Ukraine was proceeding “quietly” and losses were kept to a minimum, Vladimir Putin refused to set a timetable as May 9 is Victory Day in Russia, proclaimed after the surrender of the German Nazis. in 1945.
• For Macron, Putin decided “he wouldn’t stop”
Emmanuel Macron said his Russian counterpart had “decided he would not stop” in Ukraine because “he needs a military victory for himself”, even though he “realized that Ukraine would not”.
In this context, the city of Mariupol (east), which the Russian army is targeting, “may be a fixation point because it is a symbol of Ukraine that refuses it,” the French president estimated in an interview published by the weekly Point†
Negotiations with Moscow for a Russo-Ukrainian peace deal were considered “extremely difficult” by an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Mykhaïlo Podoliak.
• US accuses Russia of using ‘chemical agents’ in Mariupol. to consider
The United States on Tuesday released “credible information” about the possibility that Russia is using “chemical agents” in its offensive to take the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
According to US diplomacy chief Antony Blinken, “Russian forces may use a variety of riot means, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents” against “Ukrainian fighters and civilians as part of their aggressive campaign to capture Mariupol.”
“We are sharing this information with Ukraine” and “are in direct contact with our partners to determine what is happening next, it is a real concern,” he finally stated.
