‘Catastrophic situation’ in Chernihiv • Zelensky: Mariupol is Russian war crime

The siege of Mariupol will go down in history as a war crime committed by the Russian army, Ukrainian President Zelensky has said. “To do this to a peaceful city, what the occupiers have done is a terror that will be remembered for centuries,” he said in a new video message.

The president also discussed the ongoing talks with Russia about the war. According to Zelensky, these negotiations are “not easy or pleasant, but necessary”. He discussed the progress of talks with French President Macron yesterday.

Meanwhile, in some places the Russian military does not collect the bodies of their own soldiers, Zelensky said. “In places where there was particularly fierce fighting, the bodies of Russian soldiers just pile up along our defense line. And nobody collects these bodies.”

He again pointed to the losses suffered on the Russian side. More than 14,000 Russian soldiers have been killed so far, he said. He addressed Russian citizens in a video message: “That’s 14,000 mothers, 14,000 fathers, wives, children, relatives, friends and you Russians don’t notice?”

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