Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sees his country faced with enormous challenges in towns and cities previously occupied by Russian troops. The amount of work to restore normal life is “really enormous”. According to him, up to 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. According to information from Kiev, the bombing by Russian troops continued. Moscow is sending protest notes to countries supplying Ukraine with weapons.
Ukrainian authorities continue to restore normal life in areas that are once again under Ukrainian control, Zelenskyy said in his video message on Saturday night. The scope of work in the 918 towns and cities of different sizes is enormous. Mining works are being carried out and the supply of electricity, water and gas to the sites is being restored. Police, post office and local authorities are also resuming their work. Rail links have been re-established in the Sumy region in the north-east of the country or, as in the case of the northern city of Chernihiv, are about to resume.
Humanitarian teams have so far been established in 338 of these locations. Among other things, they provided emergency medical care, Selenskyj said. Schools and other educational institutions should also resume whenever possible. As of Friday, Russian troops had destroyed or damaged 1,018 educational institutions in the country, Zelenskyy said. The information could not be independently verified.
Report on the destruction in Sieverodonetsk
According to Ukrainian sources, the city of Sievjerodonetsk in the Luhansk region was also badly damaged by the Russian war of aggression. According to the head of the city’s military administration, Olexandr Strjuk, the city is about 70% destroyed. Major roads were severely damaged and water supplies were also interrupted while they awaited repairs, Stryuk told Ukraine’s national television. Of the approximately 130,000 pre-war residents, only about 20,000 people are still there. The information could not initially be independently verified.
According to Ukrainian sources, at least ten people were killed when the industrial district of the Kharkiv metropolis in eastern Ukraine was bombed. A seven-month-old baby was among the victims, the Kharkiv region’s prosecutor’s office announced on Facebook late on Friday. Ukraine also reported a Russian air strike on an airfield in the town of Oleksandriya in the Kirovohrad region of central Ukraine. Rescue work was underway, Mayor Serhiy Kuzmenko wrote on Facebook. Initially there was no information about damage or casualties.
Selenskyj talks about 20,000 dead Russian soldiers
According to information from Kiev, 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the Russian invasion. According to the translation, Selenskyj told the US television station CNN in an interview, the first excerpts of which were distributed on Friday. He also reported around 10,000 soldiers wounded on the Ukrainian side. It’s hard to say how many of them would survive.
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According to Zelenskyy, 20,000 soldiers have already been killed on the Russian side. Moscow recently spoke of some 1,350 military personnel killed in its own ranks.
The president again called for tougher sanctions against Moscow. “The next package of sanctions against Russia must include a waiver of Russian oil,” he said in his video speech. Selenskyj called the current punitive measures against Russia “serious” but not sufficient. “We demand stronger, more destructive weapons.” The war could also be shortened if Kiev quickly received all the necessary weapons.
Russia sends protest notes against arms shipments
Russia has sent protest notes to several Western countries over arms sales to Ukraine. The United States was among them, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, according to Interfax news agency. According to the Washington Post, Moscow warns in the letter that such deliveries could have “unpredictable consequences”.
Since the Russian war of aggression began seven weeks ago, Ukraine has received weapons from many countries. Germany wants to increase its arms aid to partner countries to €2 billion. Most of the money will go to Ukraine.
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According to President Zelenskyy, Ukraine is about to answer a questionnaire for EU membership. “The work is almost complete and we will soon make the answers available to the representatives of the European Union,” he said in his video message. The questionnaire forms the basis for the accession talks.
Logistics industry strained due to war
According to Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP), the war in Ukraine is also having a major impact on the logistics sector in Germany. “Supply chains are severely affected,” Wissing told the Germany editorial network. The Silk Road, for example, is less used because freight forwarders take risks when transporting goods across it. In Poland alone, around 100,000 Ukrainian truck drivers are missing because they were called up for military service in their home country. High energy prices have also made things difficult for the industry.
Wissing stressed that Germany will not reject any refugees from Ukraine in the future either.
This Saturday, Easter marches of the peace movement are scheduled in several German cities. The rallies are mainly directed against the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
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