Ukraine says it has regained control of the capital Kyiv, while warning the president that Russia is now focusing on the southeastern part of the country.
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President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia is stepping up air strikes on the southeastern part of Ukraine.
The claim is similar to information that the British Ministry of Defense has also included in its intelligence update.
US intelligence also believes Russia has changed strategy, and has a goal of taking control of this part of Ukraine in early May, according to sources who CNN have talked to.
“Putin is under pressure to show that he can win, and it is most likely that he will succeed in eastern Ukraine,” a source told the channel.
They wonder if they want to achieve victory by May 9, which is a holiday in Russia to mark the Nazi surrender during World War II.
Praised the resistance
– What is the goal of the Russian forces? They will conquer both the Donbas and southern Ukraine, Zelenskyj said in a speech on Sunday night.
– What is our goal? To protect us, our freedom, our nation and our citizens, he continues.
In his speech, he also praised the Ukrainian defense for having defended the besieged port city of Mariupol, which has suffered great hardship since the Russians entered.
“Opposition in Mariupol and other cities has given Kyiv time and contributed to weakening Russia’s military capability,” he said.
He further urged the Ukrainians to continue protesting and destroying the occupiers.
– It will be our common victory, he says.
Congratulations Zelenskyj
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday that their forces have recaptured the entire Kyiv region.
Russia itself announced earlier this week that it would step down attacks on the Ukrainian capital and the city of Chernihiv in the north and focus on the eastern regions of Ukraine.
The BBC writes that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson has spoken to and congratulated the President on pushing Russian forces out of Kyiv.
Dead people in the streets
After the withdrawal, Ukrainian forces have found more dead people in the streets in the region.
The news agency AFP, which is in place in Butsja, writes that they have seen several people lying dead along one and the same street, and that one of them must have had his hands tied together on his back.
It is still unclear who the dead – who are dressed in civilian clothes – are, and how or in what way they have been killed.
Although Russian forces now appear to be outside the metropolitan area, they appear to be intensifying their attacks on targets in eastern Ukraine.
– Despite Russia’s efforts to reduce Ukrainian air defense capability, Ukraine continues to be a significant challenge for Russian air and missile operations. As a result, Russian aircraft are still vulnerable to short- and medium-range air defense systems, writes the British Ministry of Defense.
It can prevent Russia from gaining a foothold in these areas, the update says.
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