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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky predicted on Sunday that the Russian “terror” unleashed in the city of Mariupol, Ukraine, would be “remembered for centuries to come” this month.
Zelensky’s statement was made in his last video message to the citizens of Ukraine, reports the Associated Press.
The remarks coincided with Sunday’s reports that Russian troops had destroyed an art school in Mariupol, where up to 400 people are believed to have taken refuge.
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There were no immediate estimates of possible casualties, but local officials said about 130 people had been rescued and more could remain under the rubble, AP reported.
A Ukrainian soldier guards his position in Mariupol, Ukraine, Saturday, March 12, 2022 (Associated Press)
“To do with a peaceful city what the occupiers did is a horror that will be remembered for centuries to come,” the message says.
Previously, a theater used as a shelter was also blown up in Mariupol, despite the message “Children” in Russian posted outside as a call for the site to be preserved.
Satellite imagery taken by Maxar shows the Mariupol Drama Theater in Ukraine before and after the March 16, 2022 airstrike. The word “children” is visible in white letters. (Satellite image © Maxar Technologies 2022)
Zelenskiy also said that Russian fighters did not stop to pick up the bodies of their fallen soldiers in parts of Ukraine.
“In places where there were especially fierce battles, the corpses of Russian soldiers simply accumulate along our line of defense – and no one collects these bodies,” he said.
He described the battle near Chernobaevka in the south, where Ukrainian troops held their ground and beat back the Russians six times, who just kept “sending their people to the slaughter.”
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky speaks in Kyiv, Ukraine, in an undated photo. (Press Service of the President of Ukraine via AP)
Zelenskiy also reaffirmed the need to continue peace talks with the Russians, saying such talks are “not easy or pleasant, but they are necessary.”
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“Ukraine has always sought a peaceful solution,” Zelensky said Saturday in a conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron. “Moreover, we are interested in the world now.”
The Russian invasion, which began on February 24, is now in its fourth week.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.