Deliberate terror of civilians like World War 2, says Zelensky

Volodymyr Zelensky has discussed ensuring financial stability and preparations for postwar reconstruction with IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva, the Ukrainian president said on Twitter. She replied that support is “essential to lay the foundations for rebuilding a modern competitive Ukraine”.

Earlier, Zelensky posted images of destruction he said are akin to World War 2 on his Telegram account. “The occupiers will be responsible for everything they did in Ukraine,” he said.

Implicitly criticising Russia, Pope Francis pleaded for an end to the bloodshed and lamented the “Easter of war” during his address in St Peter’s Square after Mass.

“May there be peace for war-torn Ukraine, so sorely tried by the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged,” he said.

Zelensky accused Russia on Saturday of “deliberately trying to destroy everyone” in Mariupol. The Azovstal steelworks, one of Europe’s biggest metallurgical plants with a maze of rail tracks, tunnels and blast furnaces, has become a last stand for the city’s outnumbered defenders.

“All who lay down their arms are guaranteed that their lives will be spared,” Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday.

It is not known how many soldiers are in the steelworks. Satellite images have shown smoke and fire coming from the area. Zelensky has said killing his troops would put an end to peace efforts.

Russia said Ukraine has lost more than 4,000 soldiers in Mariupol by Saturday. Kyiv says its total troop losses nationwide so far in the war are less than that, between 2,500 and 3,000. Reuters has not been able to verify either side’s figures.

A representative in Mariupol of the Azov forces — a one-time far-right militia now part of Ukraine’s National Guard whose destruction is among Moscow’s war objectives — said international intervention is needed to help civilians, including children, sheltering at the steelworks.

“There are civilians at Azovstal who are afraid of Russia’s guarantees for their exit,” the Azov representative said. Reuters has not been able to verify whether there are significant numbers of civilians at the plant.

There have been on-off negotiations between Ukraine and Russia since the start of the war.

Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a CBS News interview on Sunday that the situation in Mariupol was “dire” and could be a “red line” in the path of negotiations.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, there were more reports on Sunday of Russian strikes around major population centres.

Local media reported an explosion in Kyiv, though deputy mayor Mykola Povoroznyk said air defence systems have thwarted Russian attacks. The mayor of Brovary city, close to Kyiv, said a missile attack has damaged infrastructure.

Russia said it destroyed an ammunition factory near the capital, according to the RIA news agency.

Shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city, killed five people and injured 13, Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne reported. A Reuters correspondent in Kharkiv heard multiple explosions in quick succession and saw debris from missiles.

“This is nothing but deliberate terror: mortars, artillery against ordinary residential quarters, against ordinary civilians,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

As cleanup operations continued in areas where the Russians have retreated, Ukraine’s human rights ombud said almost all high-rise buildings in the town of Okhtyrka are unfit for occupation. The state emergencies service said 41 bodies have been recovered in the town of Borodyanka.

Most Ukrainians celebrate Orthodox Easter next Sunday, but in Bucha, a town north of Kyiv where Ukraine accuses Russia of killing dozens of civilians, about 50 people attended a church service, carrying pussy willow and praying for the dead.

Russia denies targeting civilians and has called images from Bucha fake.

“I just prayed today to stop crying,” said resident Evgeniya Lebedko after the service. “We have survived these horrors and we are constantly crying.”

Despite the desperate situation in Mariupol, Ukraine said it was holding off Russian forces in other parts of the Donbas regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which before the invasion were already partly controlled by Russian-backed separatists.

On Sunday, police in Donetsk region said over the past 24 hours Russian forces opened fire on 13 settlements under Ukrainian control, killing two civilians.

Reuters