Russia announced this Friday that it will concentrate its offensive in Ukraine on the “liberation” of the east of the countryafter a month of fighting and bombing that failed to break the resistance of this former Soviet republic.
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Russian troops were reportedly forced to withdraw to regions around kyiv and were facing a counteroffensive in Kherson (south), the only important city that they managed to take since the beginning of the invasion, on February 24.
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“The Ukrainians are trying to take over Kherson,” said a senior US Defense Department official, who requested anonymity. “We can’t say who is in control of Kherson, but he is not as heavily under Russian control as before,” he added.
US President Joe Biden praised the Ukrainian resistance from the Polish city of Rzeszow, 80 km from the border with Ukraineand again described the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, as a “war criminal”.
The port city of Mariupol (south), on the Sea of Azov, besieged and bombed for weeks, has become an emblem of the devastation left by the war. The bombing of a theater last week, which served as an anti-aircraft shelter, could have left nearly 300 dead, according to the Mayor’s Office.
President Joe Biden visited Poland to discuss the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
EFE/EPA/DAREK DELMANOWICZ POLAND
France, Turkey and Greece will launch “in the coming days” a “humanitarian operation” to try to evacuate civilians from the city, French President Emmanuel Macron announced after a European Union (EU) summit in Brussels. .
Mariúpol is a “city of 400,000 inhabitants of which today only 150,000 remain” living “dramatic situations,” he said.
“I have fled, but I lost my whole family, I lost my house, I am desperate,” Oksana Vynokurova, a 33-year-old woman, who managed to leave Mariupol and arrive by train in Lviv, told AFP. West. Another refugee who arrived on the same train, Svetlana Kuznetsova, said that in Mariupol “there is no more water or electricity. We live in the cellars and light fires to cook.”
Offensive concentrated in the east
![Bombing in kyiv](https://www.eltiempo.com/images/1x1.png)
Devastated was the shopping center bombed by Russian troops in kyiv.
The Ukrainian air force headquarters in Vinnitsa (center) was hit east by a salvo of cruise missiles, which caused “significant damage”, the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported.
In Járkov (east), the mayor denounced “indiscriminate” bombings that left at least four dead. Despite these attacks, Russian troops have suffered significant casualties and have not made any significant advance for weeks.
The Russian army acknowledged on Friday that 1,351 of its soldiers had been killed and 3,825 wounded since the start of the offensive and accused Western countries of making a “mistake” by delivering weapons to kyiv.
In what could be a striking change of orientation, the Armed Forces announced that from now on their objective will be the “liberation” of the Donbas region,
in eastern Ukraine, mostly Russian-speaking.
The Russian Army acknowledged on Friday that 1,351 of its soldiers had been killed and 3,825 wounded since the start of the offensive.
The Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Sergei Rudskoy, alleged that this order was given considering that “the main objectives of the first phase of the operation were achieved” and that “the combat capabilities of the Ukrainian forces were significantly reduced.”
A part of Donbas has already been controlled since 2014 by pro-Russian separatists. The delivery to Ukraine of shoulder-loaded anti-tank missile launchers and other Western weaponry has undoubtedly helped Ukrainian forces to hold off Russian forces and at some points to go on the counteroffensive.
Russian troops tried for several days to surround kyivbut these counterattacks “have allowed Ukraine to recover villages and defensive positions up to 35 km” from the capital, detailed a report from the British Ministry of Defense.
hateful war
![Consecration Russia Ukraine](https://www.eltiempo.com/images/1x1.png)
The Holy Father apologized for the war in the world.
In more than a month of war, thousands of Ukrainians have died, including 121 children, and more than 4,300 houses have been destroyed, according to a latest report by Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky.
Ten million people fled their homes, of which more than 3.5 million went abroadaccording to UN data.
Pope Francis on Friday condemned the “hateful war” against “new defenseless Ukrainian brothers”, after having denounced the “massacre” in a country where “rivers of tears and blood flow”.
Negotiations to end the war continue without significant results. Russia assures that they are not advancing on the main issues and believes that the kyiv government is concerned above all about “obtaining security guarantees from third powers” in case it “does not manage to join NATO.”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba instead called negotiations “very difficult” with Russia and said his country would not give in on essential issues, such as “the territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
Putin enacted a new law that punishes those who spread “false information” about Russia’s actions abroad with up to 15 years in prison.
Reduce energy dependency
In Brussels, Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the creation of a task force aimed at reducing Europe’s dependence on fossil fuel uses.
Biden warned on Thursday, after participating in a NATO summit in Brussels, that the transatlantic alliance would “respond” if Putin used chemical weapons in Ukraine.
The Kremlin had accused the United States of developing a chemical and biological weapons program in Ukraine and said Friday that Biden’s remarks are only intended to “divert attention” from that issue.
In Brussels, Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the creation of a task force aimed at reducing Europe’s dependence on fossil fuel uses.
The community executive also received the mandate from the 27 countries of the bloc to make joint purchases of gas, in order to contain the rise in prices fueled by the war in Ukraine.
AFP
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