Kyiv a city under siege
Russia slammed for ‘medieval’ tactics in bid to take Ukraine capital
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown “no interest” in ending the slaughter in Ukraine as he orders his troops to intensify their drive to topple the capital Kyiv.
In conditions described by aid agencies as “medieval”, the capital has come under a volley of devastating missiles, as have other key cities including the port cityMariupol, which has been blockaded for 12 days and is facing starvation among its inhabitants.
The barrage across the country has been less shock and awe and more shock and horror as countless residential areas were struck in various town and cities. Russian forces have now taken the east of Mariupol, where bodies remain strewn on streets.
Fears Russian forces would do what they did in Syria and Chechnya and level whole cities are being realised, with air raid sirens ringing out across most of Ukraine on Sunday.
In a move that could engulf Europe in the conflict, Russia also overnight warned Western that supplies being delivered to Ukraine by land and air could now be considered a “legitimate target” in the war. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg had earlier said such an attack on the supply lines of allied nations would be “a dangerous escalation of the war”
French president Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz held a three-way 75-minute telephone hook-up with Mr Putin about the plight of civilians, to which the Russian retorted it was Ukrainian forces performing human rights abuses.
The men agreed not to speak expansively about discussions but the French delegation concluded it was “frank and difficult” and did not progress anything.
“We did not detect a willingness on Putin’s part to end the war,” an official said.
Mr Putin has consistently said he would only authorise a ceasefire when Ukraine surrendered.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday held a briefing with foreign media and conceded 1300 of his troops had been killed since the Russian invasion but that Russian losses in 17 days of war were the greatest in decades and had forced Moscow to now send in reinforcements.