This happened last night: Ukraine resistance ‘forces’ Russians to talk, international rescue for Mariupol

“Our defenders lead the Russian leadership to a simple and logical idea: we need to talk, talk meaningfully, urgently and honestly,” Zelensky said. Due to the strong resistance of the Ukrainians, Russian forces have still failed to capture and control every major city a month after their invasion of the country. Instead, cities have been bombed, urban areas devastated and a quarter of the 44 million inhabitants displaced from their homes.

The Russian army, through deputy chief of staff Sergey Rudskoy, had announced a few hours earlier that “the combat capabilities of the Ukrainian armed forces have been significantly reduced, allowing most of the efforts to be concentrated on the main objective: the liberation of Donbass.” Pro-Russian separatists have established two “republics” in this industrial region in the eastern part of Ukrainian territory, which Moscow recognized just before the invasion.

Rephrasing Russia’s goals could make it easier for President Vladimir Putin to claim a face-saving victory, according to military analysts.

The Russian military’s announcement came shortly after Russian Security Council Vice-President Dmitry Medvedev emphasized that the current military operation in Ukraine “must continue until it achieves its goal of demilitarizing and de-nazification of the country.” .’ Western officials dismiss the latter as an unfounded pretext for a war they believe is aimed at overthrowing Zelensky’s government.

Russia is now said to be sending troops from Georgia to Ukraine. According to a US Department of Defense official, this troop movement is currently being observed. It is unclear how many armed forces are involved. Russia has deployed troops in the former republic of the Soviet Union since 2008.

The troop movements may be in response to recent Russian territorial losses around the Ukrainian capital Kiev and in the southern city of Kherson. According to a Ukrainian official, the Ukrainian army is planning a ‘counter-attack’ around Kiev. CNN reports this based on an anonymous source. It was already announced on Friday that the Ukrainian army was able to recapture numerous areas around the capital.

Ukrainian troops are trying to recapture the city of Kherson from the Russians, a senior US Department of Defense official said. The Russian military no longer has firm control over the port city, which is why Kherson is now being reclassified as a ‘disputed area’. Kherson is a strategically important city, according to the official, because of its location at the mouth of the Dnieper River.

Should the Ukrainians succeed in retaking that city, it would complicate the Russian attack on the nearby and hard-fought city of Mykolaiv. It would also make a possible ground offensive towards the port city of Odessa considerably more difficult.

An international rescue operation is currently underway for residents of the city of Mariupol, which was surrounded by Russian troops. France, Turkey and Greece will conduct “a humanitarian operation” to evacuate them “soon”, French President Emmanuel Macron announced. “I will have another meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in 48 to 72 hours to fine-tune the details and secure the terms,” ​​he told the newspaper Friday evening. Le Figaro†

According to Macron, teams from the Elysée had a meeting on Friday with the mayor of Mariupol, “a city of more than 400,000 inhabitants, of which only 150,000 remain living in dramatic situations.” More than 2,000 civilians have been killed in the city, according to a latest city government report. According to Ukrainian President Zelensky, some 100,000 people are trapped in the strategic port city on the Sea of ​​Azov, which has been under siege for weeks by Russian troops.

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