Hope for truce fades over Orthodox Easter
SENIOR Ukrainian negotiator and presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said yesterday that Russian forces were continuously shelling Mariupol and urged Moscow to agree to a “real Easter truce”.
He tweeted, urging Russia to “think about the remnants of its reputation” and called for “a real Easter truce in Mariupol” alongside an immediate humanitarian corridor for civilians and special round of talks to facilitate the exchange of military and civilians.
The authorities in two eastern Ukrainian regions said on Saturday that fighting was “fierce”, as hope faded for a truce over the Orthodox Easter weekend.
The governor of the eastern Kharkiv region, Oleg Sinegubov, said on Telegram that Ukrainian forces retook three villages near the Russian border after “fierce battles”. The villages lie north of Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv.
Sinegubov said he had agreed with local religious leaders there would be “no night services” in churches on Saturday – the eve before Orthodox Easter, which Russia and Ukraine celebrate
– for security reasons.
The governor of the Lugansk region, Sergiy Gaiday, said on Telegram that fighting also raged there as Russian forces “continue to attack” the cities of Rubizhne and Severodonetsk.
He called on people to “evacuate if you have the chance”, saying volunteers were helping.
Presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovich said Russian forces were “focusing efforts on the area between Kramatorsk and Sloviansk”, two cities in the eastern Donetsk region.
Meanwhile in Switzerland, hundreds of Ukrainians lined up for food handouts
in Zurich as wealthy Switzerland struggles to cope with the arrival of around 40 000 refugees since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February.
Refugees in official accommodation receive some financial support from the state, although this is often not enough to live on in a country where the cost of living is among the highest in the world.
Those refugees who are staying with private host families – around half of the arrivals, according to the authorities – are falling through the cracks of the Swiss welfare system altogether. |