Ukraine’s foreign minister on Sunday claimed his country had ‘won’ the battle for Kyiv but warned fighting was increasing in Donbass – as chilling photos showed an 8-mile Russian convoy headed towards the region.
Ukrainian officials also reported finding a new mass grave containing dozens of civilian bodies in the newly liberated village of Buzova, outside of Kyiv.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba hailed Ukrainian forces for retaking Kiev and its surroundings from Russian forces, but said the Kremlin was preparing to launch a brutal new effort.
“One can say that Ukraine won the battle for Kyiv. Now another battle is coming, the Battle of Donbass,” Kuleba told NBC’s Meet the Press. “And of course we’re preparing for that, working with our partners to get all the necessary weapons and literally everything it takes to win a battle.”
Kuleba said Ukraine’s military has proven to be one of the “strongest” in the world.
“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Ukraine has proven that it has one of the strongest armies in the world, perhaps second only to the United States,” he said.
“Not in terms of numbers, but in terms of combat experience and fighting ability. And all we need are state-of-the-art weapons,” he said, urging NATO to provide more support to defeat Russian forces.
Russian forces have reportedly withdrawn from Kyiv but are on their way to the eastern part of the country Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS
White House press secretary Jen Psaki agreed that Ukraine “essentially won the battle of Kyiv.”
“They protected their city and that’s because of their bravery, their bravery, but also the supplies, the military equipment, everything we expedited from the United States worth $1.7 billion,” Psaki claimed Fox News Sunday.
But retired General David Petraeus, who led the US operation in its war in Afghanistan until 2010, warned that Ukrainians can expect a “quite a fight” from Russian forces preparing for a “massive breakthrough” in eastern Ukraine .
A satellite image shows armored vehicles and trucks of a military convoy moving south through the Ukrainian city of Velykyi Burluk April 8, 2022.Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS
“You can expect more of what we’ve seen as a hallmark of the Russian armed forces – indiscipline, not discipline,” Petreaus told State of the Union.
“It was a violation of the Geneva Convention and the Land War Law and so on,” he said of the behavior of the Russian troops. “We have repeatedly seen evidence of this. And I’m afraid we’ll see more of that in the days and weeks ahead.”
Concerns about an attack on southeastern Ukraine were raised after satellite photos emerged of a Russian military convoy en route to the Donbass region.
The attacks came after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson traveled to Kyiv on Saturday for a visit that was hailed as a strong show of support. Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS
Images taken by Maxar Technologies on Friday showed the 8-mile convoy made up of hundreds of armored vehicles and trucks carrying artillery and equipment.
The developments came as follows:
- Russian forces fired rockets at Luhansk in the Donbass region and at Dnipro further west, completely destroying an airport and injuring at least five people. Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said a school and apartment building were attacked in the region’s town of Sievierodonetsk, although “fortunately there were no casualties.”
- The Kharkiv governor said 10 civilians were killed and 11 others wounded in weekend bombings in the region. “During the day the occupiers bombed civilian infrastructure in Balakliya, Pesochin, Zolochiv and Dergakhi,” Governor Oleg Synegubov wrote on Telegram. “As of this writing, we know of 10 dead, including a child, and 11 wounded.” The attacks also continued in Mariupol.
- National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan warned that the US expects more brutal attacks on civilians from Russia’s new top general in Ukraine, known as the “butcher of Syria”. “This particular general has a resume that includes brutality against civilians in other theaters in Syria, and we can expect more of that in this theater,” Sullivan told CNN, referring to Army General Alexander Dvornikov. But “no appointment of a general can erase the fact that Russia has already experienced a strategic failure in Ukraine,” Sullivan added.
- Sullivan said Biden has no plans to travel to Kyiv. His comment came the day after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson traveled to the Ukrainian capital to show solidarity. Kuleba hailed the Prime Minister’s visit as “not just about symbolism, it’s also about sending a message of confidence in Ukraine. … It’s very, very important to us at this critical time and we’ll see who [are] real friends of Ukraine.” Still, Kuleba added: “Everyone decides for themselves whether or not to come to Kyiv for security reasons”.
- A top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his boss is likely to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a few weeks – after the battle over Donbass has been settled. “Ukraine is ready for big battles,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, an aide to the president. “Ukraine must win them, especially in Donbass. And after that, Ukraine will get a stronger negotiating position from which it can dictate certain conditions. Then the Presidents meet. That can take two or three weeks.”
- The Kremlin is trying to replenish its troops with Russian soldiers, who have been discharged from military service since 2012, as its losses continue to mount since the invasion of Ukraine in late February, according to British intelligence services.
Images taken by Maxar Technologies on Friday showed the 8-mile convoy made up of hundreds of armored vehicles and trucks carrying artillery and equipment. Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS
Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Sunday that the Russians had “become monsters.
“When people lack the courage to admit their mistakes, to apologize, to adapt to reality, to study, they turn into monsters,” said the Ukrainian president. “And if the world ignores it, the monsters decide as if it were the world that had to adapt to them.
“Ukraine will stop all this. Nothing helps Russian cowardice. There will come a day when they will have to admit everything, the truth.”
With post wires