Kyiv, Europe Brief News – The Ukrainian government said on Saturday that Russian forces are hitting on the port city of Mariupol with continuous artillery bombing and shelling.
As per various reports, Russian forces shelled a mosque that was sheltering more than 80 people including children.
There was no immediate word of casualties from the shelling of Mariupol’s city mosque. The city of 446,000 people has experienced some of Ukraine’s worst misery since Russia invaded.
President Volodymyr Zelensky shared a video message saying “They are bombing Maripoul 24 hours a day, launching missiles. It is hatred. They kill children”.
Western Leaders Call Putin
On the other hand, German and French leaders had a conversation with Putin on Saturday but failed to extract anything positive out of the call. The Kremlin said that during the call with German and French leaders, Putin laid out demands for ending the war.
To end hostilities, Putin has demanded that Ukraine drop its bid to join NATO and adopt a neutral status. Moreover, Acknowledge the Russian sovereignty over Crimea and Recognize the separatist regions as Independent.
Ukraine military said that Russian forces have seized Mariupol’s eastern outskirts, tightening the armed squeeze on the strategic port. Capturing Mariupol and other ports on the Azov sea will enable Russia to build a land corridor to Crimea.
Zelensky motivated his people to keep up the good work and keep showing their sheer resistance to the enemy and that is the only way they can defend the city.
Zelensky said, “ The fact that the whole Ukrainian people resist these invaders has already gone down in history, but we do not have the right to let up our defence, no matter how difficult it may be for us”.
Zelensky told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet on Saturday that he was willing to meet Putin in Jerusalem to discuss an end to the war but demanded an immediate ceasefire before the talks begin.
Russian forces have struck dozens of Hospitals and medical facilities since invading Ukraine on Feb 24. The World health organisation claims that heavy artillery has damaged a cancer hospital and a number of residential buildings in Mykolaiv.
The Russian forces appear to have struggled far more than expected against determined Ukrainian Fighters. At the start of the invasion, everyone thought that Russia would swiftly take control of the entire Ukraine but that did not happen.
