KRAMATORSK — Ukraine is preparing for
“important battles” against Moscow’s forces in the east of the country,
officials in Kyiv said, as Pope Francis on Sunday called for an Easter truce to
end the war.
اضافة اعلان
Evacuations continued from Kramatorsk, in eastern
Ukraine, where a missile strike on Friday killed 52 people at a railway
station, while an airport in the central city of Dnipro was completely
destroyed in fresh shelling Sunday.
President Volodymyr Zelensky again condemned
atrocities against civilians and after speaking with
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz he said they agreed “that all perpetrators of war crimes must be
identified and punished”.
Ukraine’s prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova said
the country was examining the alleged culpability of 500 leading Russian
officials for thousands of war crimes, including
President Vladimir Putin.
Pope Francis meanwhile called for an Easter
ceasefire in Ukraine to pave the way for peace through “real negotiation”.
“Let the Easter truce begin. But not to provide more
weapons and pick up the combat again — no! — a truce that will lead to peace,
through real negotiation,” he told a public mass at Saint Peter’s Square.
The pontiff denounced a war where “defenseless
civilians” suffered “heinous massacres and atrocious cruelty”.
But Russia’s Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, a key Putin
ally, issued his own appeal against Russia’s “enemies”.
“In this difficult period for our fatherland, may
the Lord help each of us to unite, including around power,” he said.
“This is how true solidarity will emerge in our
people, as well as an ability to push back external and internal enemies and to
build a life with more good, truth, and love.”
‘Ready to fight’
The appeals came after
Zelensky said Kyiv was readying for a Russian onslaught.
“Sadly, in parallel we see the preparations for
important battles, some people say decisive ones, in the east,” he said
Saturday at a press conference with visiting Austrian Chancellor
Karl Nehammer.
“We are ready to fight and to look in parallel to
end this war through diplomacy.”
The UN on Sunday said 4,232 civilian casualties had
been recorded in Ukraine to date, with 1,793 killed and 2,439 injured.
Ukraine said
Kremlin propaganda had laid the
groundwork for the bloody campaign, accusing Russian media of long sowing
hatred towards Ukrainians.
Foreign Minister
Dmytro Kuleba cited civilian
killings in the town of Bucha outside of Kyiv after bodies were discovered as
the Russian army retreated from the area.
“Bucha did not happen in one day,” he said on
Twitter Sunday.
“For many years, Russian political elites and
propaganda have been inciting hatred, dehumanizing Ukrainians, nurturing
Russian superiority and laying ground for these atrocities.”
The comments came on the heels of a surprise visit
to Kyiv on Saturday by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the latest Western
leader to visit the capital in a show of support.
Hailing the country’s response to the Russian
invasion, Johnson offered Ukraine armored vehicles and anti-ship missiles,
crucial to halting the Russian naval siege of
Black Sea ports, to help ensure
that the country will “never be invaded again”.
A video released by Zelensky’s office showed him and
the British prime minister walking through largely empty city streets to Kyiv’s
historic Maidan Square, as snipers kept watch.
Johnson said the discovery of scores of civilian
corpses in Ukrainian towns had “permanently polluted” Putin’s reputation.
At least two bodies were found inside a manhole at a
petrol station on a motorway outside Kyiv on Sunday, an AFP reporter saw.
Moscow has shifted its focus to eastern and southern
Ukraine after stiff resistance thwarted plans to swiftly capture Kyiv.
With thousands killed in the fighting and more than
11 million fleeing their homes, the Ukrainian president called on the West to
follow Britain’s example on military aid.
“We need even more sanctions” against Russia,
Zelensky said in a video address Saturday.
“We need more weapons.”
As Russian forces regroup in the east and south of
Ukraine, local officials are urging residents to flee before it is too late.
Speaking Saturday from Warsaw, European Commission
President
Ursula von der Leyen said a global pledging event for the more than
4.5 million refugees who have fled the country had raised 10.1 billion euros.
In another sign of
Western solidarity,
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the military
alliance was drawing up plans for a permanent military force on its border to
prevent further Russian aggression.
“What we see now is a new reality, a new normal for European
security,” he said in an interview with Britain’s Daily Telegraph.
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