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UKRAINE HAS SAID that 12 Ukrainian soldiers and 14 civilians are returning home following a prisoner exchange with Russia.
“On the order of President (Volodymyr) Zelensky, the third prisoner exchange took place today. 12 of our servicemen are returning home, including one female officer,” deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Telegram.
Fourteen civilians including nine women were also on their way home, he added.
Meanwhile, evacuations resumed today from the town in eastern Ukraine where a missile strike killed 52 people at a train station as civilians fled a feared Russian offensive.
Six weeks into Russia’s invasion, Moscow has shifted its focus to eastern and southern Ukraine after stiff resistance ended plans to swiftly capture Kyiv.
Civilians trapped in the region have faced brutal conditions, and EU leaders met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a show of support as news emerged of the devastating attack on Kramatorsk’s station. The 52 victims included five children.
With thousands killed in fighting and more than 11 million fleeing their homes or the country, Zelenskyy said the strike marked a fresh atrocity and called for a “firm global response” to the bloody incident.
“This is another Russian war crime for which everyone involved will be held accountable,” he said in a video message.
World powers have already condemned Russia’s attack on Kramatorsk. We expect a firm global response to this war crime.
Zelenskyy later said he remained open to talks with Russia to resolve the conflict.
US President Joe Biden accused Russia of being behind a “horrific atrocity” in the de facto capital of the Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk region, and France condemned the strike as a “crime against humanity”.
Moscow denied responsibility for the rocket attack on Friday morning, which killed 52 and injured a further 109 people, according to the latest official count.
The Ukrainian president said the bombing had been reported in Russia before the missiles had even landed and called for more weaponry to counter Moscow’s aggression.
“I am sure that the victory of Ukraine is just a matter of time, and I will do everything to reduce this time,” he added.
Minibuses assembled at a church in Kramatorsk to collect shaken evacuees today. Almost 80 people, most of them elderly, took shelter overnight in the building, not far from the targeted station.
The station in Kramatorsk was being used as the main evacuation hub for refugees from the parts of the eastern Donbas region still under Ukrainian control.
AFP reporters at the station saw the remains of the missile tagged in white paint with the words “for our children” in Russian. The expression is frequently used by pro-Russian separatists in reference to their losses since the start of the first Donbas war in 2014.
The governor of Donetsk claimed a missile with cluster munitions was used in the attack, according to remarks published by the Interfax news agency.
‘All this horror’
The strike came as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell were in Kyiv for talks with Zelenskyy and to visit the scene of civilian killings in Bucha.
Russia faces “decay” because of ever tougher sanctions and Ukraine had a “European future”, von der Leyen said at a news conference with Zelenskyy.
“My instinct says: If this is not a war crime, what is a war crime?” she said of the Bucha killings, calling for a thorough investigation.
Joining the Western solidarity campaign, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer arrived in Kyiv and was expected to travel to Bucha later today.
Russian troops appear to be seeking to create a long-sought land link between occupied Crimea and the Moscow-backed separatist territories of Donetsk and Lugansk in the Donbas region.
Civilians have been urged to flee the heavy shelling there that has laid waste to towns and complicated evacuation efforts.
The defence ministry in Moscow said Saturday that Russian forces had destroyed an ammunition depot in the Dnipro region, and struck 85 Ukrainian military targets in the previous 24 hours.
“There is no secret – the battle for Donbas will be decisive. What we have already experienced – all this horror – it can multiply,” warned Luhansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday.
In the south, the Black Sea port city of Odessa braced for rocket attacks, imposing a weekend curfew.
Residents and Ukrainian officials returning after a Russian withdrawal from an area near Kyiv, meanwhile, were taking stock of the scale of the devastation.
Bucha – where authorities say hundreds were killed, some with their hands bound – has become a byword for the brutality allegedly inflicted under Russian occupation.
But Zelenskyy warned worse was being uncovered.
“They have started sorting through the ruins in Borodianka,” northwest of Kyiv, he said. “It is much more horrific there. There are even more victims of Russian occupiers.”
Conflict in the area has wrought massive destruction and bodies are only now being retrieved, with 27 recovered from two destroyed buildings, according to Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova.
Fresh allegations also emerged from Obukhovychi, northwest of Kyiv, where villagers told AFP they were used as human shields.
‘Help us now’
Moscow has denied targeting civilians, but growing evidence of atrocities has galvanised Ukraine’s allies in the EU, which has approved an embargo on Russian coal and the closure of its ports to Russian vessels.
The bloc has frozen €30 billion euros in assets from blacklisted Russian and Belarusian individuals and companies, it said yesterday.
It also blacklisted Putin’s two adult daughters and more than 200 others as part of its latest sanctions package, according to an official list.
The United States and Britain had already sanctioned the Russian leader’s daughters.
Borrell has pledged the EU would supply €7.5 million to train Ukrainian prosecutors to investigate war crimes allegedly committed by Russia.
Ukraine has welcomed new pressure on Moscow, but it continues to push for harsher sanctions and more heavy weaponry.
“Either you help us now – and I’m speaking about days, not weeks – or your help will come too late and many people will die, many civilians will lose their homes, many villages will be destroyed,” foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said after meeting Nato foreign ministers in Brussels.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on a visit to Kyiv today vowed UK armoured vehicles and anti-ship missiles for Ukraine as he acclaimed its military for “the greatest feat of arms of the 21st century”.
“It is because of President (Volodymyr) Zelensky’s resolute leadership and the invincible heroism and courage of the Ukrainian people that (Vladimir) Putin’s monstrous aims are being thwarted,” he said after meeting Zelensky, according to a Downing Street statement.
Johnson set out extra military aid of 120 armoured vehicles and new anti-ship missile systems, “to support Ukraine in this crucial phase while Russia’s illegal assault continues”, the statement said.
That is on top of UK aid announced Friday of additional Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles and another 800 anti-tank missiles, along with “loitering” drones for “precision strikes” against the Russians.
Slovakia said it had given Ukraine an S-300 air defence system.
As world powers held a fundraising round for Ukraine, Johnson also promised an extra $500 million via the World Bank.
Johnson said it had been a “privilege” to meet Zelensky in person on his surprise visit, which was not pre-announced in London.
“Ukraine has defied the odds and pushed back Russian forces from the gates of Kyiv, achieving the greatest feat of arms of the 21st century,” he said.
“I made clear today that the United Kingdom stands unwaveringly with them in this ongoing fight, and we are in it for the long run.”
Western companies have joined the bid to isolate Russia, with US video hosting service YouTube blocking the channel of the Russian lower house of parliament. Russian officials warned of reprisals.
As sanctions bite, credit rating agency S and P Global Ratings downgraded Russia’s foreign currency payments rating to “selective default” after Moscow paid a dollar-denominated debt in rubles this week.
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Russia claiming that Ukraine bombed their own train station (with 4000 people in it) but Russia tested these missiles 4 days before they invaded Ukraine according to fact checkers on EuroNews this morning.
Animals.
No animals are great actually.
Sorry animals for the comparison.
@Paddy: ok, you believe in Russian propaganda – cool ! Smh
@Paddy: Where did you pick up this misinformation from Comrade Paddy?
@Charles Coughlan: Check out comrade Paddy’s twitter. Big scruffy mick and Claire Daly fan.
@Denis Ryan: Enough said, only short of following Marjorie Taylor Green I guess…
@Paddy: please provide facts then…simpleton…
@Paddy: Russians will die by thier 1000s. Russia as we know it will be utterly changed in 5 years my friend. There is no coming back for the. Regime change is only a matter of time. The irony of having a US puppet in the Kremlin is satisfying
Western Europe and allies must go 100% sanctions now. No buying Russian gas and oil. Otherwise, Europe is funding this war.
@A Well Known Comical Stereotype AKA PRGuy: Yes
@A Well Known Comical Stereotype AKA PRGuy:I am behind all sanctions but I doubt all Western Europe will go 100%.
Making the sanctions stick in the long term, however, may turn out to be a tall order.First, the sanctions are still not comprehensive. European countries continue to receive energy from Russia and pay for it.Second, the sanctions are not global. A number of states in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America hesitate to join in; a few even openly support Russia. Whether the sanctions will work depends on how many states eventually join in.
Third, the goals of the sanctions are not clear. What are they supposed to achieve? Will they remain in the long term? Is there a way out for Russia so that sanctions may be lifted in the future?
https://time.com/6150607/why-sanctions-on-russia-wont-work/
@artur fil:
Complete sanction on Russia. As for the states hesitating to join in? Sanction them too.
@artur fil: it is of note that only one of the 8 most populus countries in the world have sanctions against Russia. In fact about 7/8th of the world population live in countries without sanctions with Asia, Africa and South America not involved. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_sanctions_during_the_2022_Russian_invasion_of_Ukraine in some ways these sanctions could divide the world into two blocks and, truthfully the Russian trading block is probably large enough to mitigate the effects of the current sanctions. Yet we do not want an escalation of sanctions to countries that continue to trade with Russia. I think that for peace there must be a road back, but if Russia remains self sufficient there msy be little pressure to go back to normal relations.
@artur fil: The goal is to end the war. They will end when Ukraine is free. It is complicated, for sure.
Are these war crimes and crimes against humanity deliberate parts of strategy, or are they as much due to the deteriorating Russian campaign, or both? What I mean is whether this is an attempt by a military who have been exposed as badly organised, badly led and with bad morale, to find a way to instill random terror in place of modern professional efficiency. That the Russian military is dangerous because it is capable of anything in response, because it can’t rely on the fear of how well it is equipped and operates?
@David A. Murray: it was a Russian modus operandi in Syria, the Israelis do it in Palestine too.
@Garret Fawl: When did the Israelis start bombing packed train stations?
@David A. Murray: i sometimes wonder if there is a disconnect between Putin and the military and Putin believes his own propaganda fed to him by the military. The troops captured in the north in the beginning certainly stated they would be welcome and not to target civilians. We now seem to have different kinds if troops in different areas and some maybe more maverick than others. Certainly the idea all Ukraine would look east again has been destroyed and maybe in the breakaway areas too. It would not be the first time military lied to the leaders and operated without approval. However this does not excise or absolve anyone from responsibility to what is happening in Ukraine and surely other would leaders have made Putin aware even if the west media is accused of fake propaganda.
@Gavin Tobin: dead civilians are dead civilians does it matter where they were when they are bombed?
So the atrocious (War Crimes) continue while TALKS continue on Sanctions. The rest of the world has got to implement these now to Stop feeding the Russian War machine and put a Stop to this War. How long can we watch women, children, the old and Disabled been Murdered and their cities destroyed?
@Eamonn Tierney: Might be a little bit out on the figures but since the war started we have paid 60 times more to Russia for their oil than aid and assistance given to Ukraine , 60bn, vs 1bn.
Kick Russia out of UN THEY ARE NOT FIT TO SIT AT ANYONE’S TABLE
Russia still has a chance to show some form of humanity. We know ten if not hundreds for thousand of Ukraine’s where kidnapped into Russia. Where are these women and children today? How are their prison guards treating them? Why is the UN not voicing any concerns? Have they enough food or any shelter? Did they make it to Russia at all? Was a mass grave or mobile crematorium their faith. The world deserves answers.
This would be a good PR story for Russia. Happy Ukrainians excepting their role as bargaining chips by Russian forces. If not the Russian army maybe some Russian civilians with a ounce of compassion could offer them assistance. Would that be too much to ask.
@Munster1: Simple question lad, if Ireland was invaded would you be happy to see the rest of the world stand by while war crimes and genocide were being committed, a yes or no answer will suffice.
@Charles Coughlan: if Ireland were attacked, we would expect and gladly accept help from NATO/UK/USA. If however, any of these countries were attacked, presumably we would wring our hands in despair and hide behind our veil of neutrality?
@Charles Coughlan: We where invaded and the rest of the world did stand by. We kicked them out on our own.
@Munster1: not kicked out entirely !
@James Lough: True!
@Munster1: You didn’t answer my question, no yes or no answer, like a typical FFG politician.
@Charles Coughlan: yes I did Charles
Have a listen to this guy about sanctions
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMLCnSGHH/
@Sean Whelan: Okay, this man does make valid points….but there has been widespread discussion in the Western media over the last 6 weeks about the slow application of sanctions, about how and to what they are applied, about their effectiveness, about how incomplete they were, about loop holes, about who they would ‘hurt’, about how effective they would be. He’s not really saying anything that I haven’t heard/read repeatedly. It doesn’t mean he is talking sense, just that he’s not saying anything new.
@David A. Murray: Sorry, double-negatives are something I should avoid…..It doesn’t mean that he ISN’T talking sense……
have your say