With Russia announcing an expansion of its military operation, Volodymyr Zelensky this time, in a new message, calls on Ukrainians to fight for the liberation of the country from Russian invaders.
"We will fight as long as it takes to liberate the country. As long as children are born in shelters and the bombing continues, the enemy has no chance to prevail," Zelensky's TV message.
"We have resisted and successfully repelled enemy attacks. Fighting continues in many cities and districts of our state. But we know what we are protecting the country, the land, the future of our children. Kiev and the main cities around the capital are controlled by our army. The occupiers wanted to blockade the center of our state and put their puppets here, as they did in Donetsk. We broke their plan," he had said in particular.
Earlier, the Ukrainian president had said that the Ukrainian army was in control of Kiev and the surrounding areas, as it had "repelled" Russian plans to make the centre of the country a "new Donetsk".
The Kremlin is escalating its aggressive policy despite the warning signals from the West and the sanctions packages announced a few 24 hours ago. The Russian military has been ordered to expand its offensive in all directions despite growing international outcry as the Russian side claims Kiev has refused to negotiate.
"Today all units received the order to expand the offensive in all directions, according to the plan of attack," Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement.
He claimed that pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, supported by the Russian military, are making "successes."
These claims cannot be directly verified by an independent source.
On the third day of the invasion of Ukraine ordered by Vladimir Putin, fighting took place in the capital Kiev and other cities in this pro-Western Eastern European country.
Ukrainian authorities said today that at least 198 civilians have been killed since the start of the Russian invasion, while shelling of Kiev and other cities, including Kharkiv (east), is multiplying.
Konashenkov reiterated that the Russian military is not hitting populated areas, but French Agency reporters have seen homes hit by gunfire across the country.
Accusing the Ukrainian authorities of "implicating the civilian population" as they "distribute weapons in an uncontrolled manner," the Russian spokesman also said this "will inevitably lead to accidents and casualties."
Source: Proto Thema
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs Cyprus Times
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
Source
