Russian and Ukrainian forces are clashing in the Ukrainian capital, with a US official confirming that Washington has offered to evacuate President Volodymyr Zelensky from Kiev.
This is the third day of the conflict, with clashes having already reached the streets of Kiev, but French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Saturday that the world must brace for a long war.
“This crisis will last, this war will last and all the crises that come with it will have lasting consequences,” Macron said at an agriculture fair in France. “We must be prepared”.
Zelensky said he had spoken by phone with Macron and that Western “partners” were sending weapons to fight Russian troops.
“Weapons and equipment from our partners are on the way to Ukraine. The anti-war coalition is working!” the comedian-turned-politician tweeted.
Zelensky was quoted as having told the US government that he needed anti-tank ammunition, “not a ride”, after he was offered a safe evacuation from Kiev.
Local media reports said “heavy, frequent artillery fire” was heard near government buildings in Kiev in the early hours of Saturday. Interfax Ukraine agency said Russian forces were trying to capture one of the capital city’s electricity generating stations.
The Ukrainian president’s pledge to fight on came after the Kremlin accepted his offer to hold talks. His whereabouts were being kept secret.
“We will not put down weapons, we will defend our state,” he said, speaking in a video message from outside his Kiev office.
Zelenskiy’s defiant remarks also came after his spokesman said Ukraine and Russia would consult in coming hours on a time and place for talks.
The Kremlin said it offered to meet in the Belarusian capital Minsk after Ukraine had expressed a willingness to discuss declaring itself a neutral country while Ukraine had proposed Warsaw as the venue.
On Friday, Zelensky had lamented that he had been “left alone” by the West. “Who is ready to fight alongside us? I don’t see anyone. Who is ready to give Ukraine a guarantee of NATO membership? Everyone is afraid,” he said in a post-midnight video address.
Kiev officials were warning residents early Saturday that street fighting was underway and urged people to seek shelter.
At least 198 Ukrainians, including three children, have been killed so far, the head of the Ukrainian health ministry was quoted as saying.
He said 1,115 people were wounded, including 33 children. It was unclear whether he was referring only to civilian casualties.
With Zelensky remaining defiant, the Russian military continued its advance, laying claim to Melitopol, a city of about 150,000 people in southeast Ukraine.
Earlier, Ukrainian officials said Russian forces fired cruise missiles from the Black Sea at Mariupol as well as Sumy in the northeast and Poltava in the east.
Russia’s defense ministry said their forces used air- and ship-based cruise missiles to carry out overnight strikes on military targets in Ukraine. It said Russian troops had hit hundreds of military infrastructure targets and destroyed several aircraft and dozens of tanks and armored and artillery vehicles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday announced the launch of an operation to eliminate what he called a serious threat to his country, citing the need to “denazify” Ukraine and accusing its Western-backed leadership of genocide against Russian-speakers in eastern Ukraine.
Western countries have announced a barrage of sanctions on Russia, including blacklisting its banks and banning technology exports. But they have stopped short of forcing it out of the SWIFT system for international bank payments, fearing it would harm their own economies.
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Source: Press TV
