KIEV, Ukraine (AP) – Fighting continues in Ukraine after the country marked the anniversary of the Russian invasion. Ukrainian authorities on Saturday reported dozens of new Russian strikes and attacks on cities in the east and south.
After a somber and defiant commemoration on Friday and a marathon press conference, Ukraine’s seemingly indefatigable president followed up a day later with new video posts declaring that “Russia must lose in Ukraine” and arguing that its armed forces are defeated could be year.
In a separate tweet, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also urged more sanctions pressure on Russia after Britain, the US and the European Union all announced new measures aimed at further choking off funding and support to Moscow.
“The pressure on the Russian aggressor must increase,” Zelenskyi tweeted in English.
He said Ukraine wanted to see “decisive steps” against Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosatom and the Russian nuclear industry, as well as “more pressure on the military and banks.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said this week that Rosatom and his defense ministry must work to ensure Russia is ready to resume nuclear weapons testing if necessary. He claimed the US was working on nuclear weapons and some in the US were considering plans to conduct nuclear tests banned by the global test ban after the end of the Cold War.
“If the US conducts tests, so will we,” Putin said.
Russia has already become the world’s most heavily sanctioned nation over the past year, facing sanctions from more than 30 countries representing more than half of the world economy. But the pressure on its economy, trade and companies has yet to deal a knockout blow.
Russia’s ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, called the recent US sanctions “thoughtless”.
“We have learned to live under economic and political pressure,” Antonov said. “The experience of previous sanctions has shown that they damage the world market more, worsen the situation of ordinary citizens in states that initiate or support reckless sanctions.”
The anniversary of last year’s invasion on February 24 brought no respite to Russian attacks.
Nevertheless, Zelenskyy asked in one of his video posts on Saturday: “Is it possible that we win?”
“Yes,” he said. “We are able to do this together, with determination and relentlessly, to put an end to Russian aggression this year.”
The Ukrainian military on Saturday reported 27 Russian airstrikes and 75 attacks by multiple rocket launchers in the past 24 hours. Russian offensive efforts were said to remain focused on Ukraine’s industrial east and north-east. Five civilians were reported wounded in Ukraine’s eastern province of Donetsk, where territory is roughly divided between Russian and Ukrainian control.
Fighting raged “around” and “near” Bakhmut, a town in the Donetsk region that Ukraine’s land forces said has become a flashpoint of fighting in recent months. The military said Russian forces continued to try to break through Ukraine’s defenses, encircle and take the city.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner of the private Russian military company Wagner, claimed on Saturday that his fighters “totally took over” the village of Yahidne on the northern outskirts of Bakhmut. The claim has not been confirmed by either the Russian military or the Ukrainian army.
In the southern Kherson region, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin also reported 83 Russian shelling attacks, hitting the region’s capital, also known as Kherson, nine times and hitting residential buildings, a preschool and a medical facility. The head of the Presidential Office of Ukraine reported three civilians wounded in the region.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday that he intends to discuss peace efforts related to the Ukraine war with China when he travels there in April. China has called for a ceasefire and peace talks. Zelenskyy on Friday gave qualified support to Beijing’s apparent interest in playing a role.
Macron said in Paris that “China must now help us to put pressure on Russia”.
“Of course, so that Russia will never use chemical or nuclear weapons,” he said. “But also for (Russia) to stop this aggression as a condition for negotiations.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday he welcomed parts of China’s proposed peace plan for Ukraine but disagreed with other aspects.
“There are things that are remarkably right, such as the renewed condemnation of the use of nuclear weapons,” Scholz told reporters during an official visit to India. “What’s missing from my point of view is a recognizable line that says, ‘Russian troops must also withdraw.'”
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Elise Morton in London, Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine and the anniversary of the invasion at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine-a-year -of-war