Zelenskyy accuses Russia of trying to destroy Donbas
\n KHARKIV\/MOSCOW
\nUkrainian forces fought Saturday to hold off a Russian advance in their country\u2019s south and east, where the Kremlin is seeking to capture the industrial Donbas region and Western military analysts said Moscow\u2019s offensive was going much slower than planned. The United Nations continued trying to broker an evacuation of civilians from the increasingly hellish ruins of Mariupol, a southern port city that Russia has sought to capture since it invaded Ukraine more than nine weeks ago.
\nCitizens are \u201cbegging to get saved\u201d from a steel plant that has become Mariupol\u2019s last defense stronghold, Mayor Vadym Boichenko said Friday. \u201cThere, it\u2019s not a matter of days. It\u2019s a matter of hours.\u201d An estimated 2,000 fighters were holed up in the plant with about 1,000 civilians.
\nTwo Ukrainian women whose husbands are members of the Azov Regiment of Ukraine\u2019s National Guard said they feared soldiers will be tortured and killed if left behind and captured by the Russians. They asked for a Dunkirk-style mission to evacuate the fighters, a reference to the World War II operation launched to rescue surrounded Allied troops in northern France. \u201cWe can do this extraction operation … which will save our soldiers, our civilians, our kids,\u201d Kateryna Prokopenko, 27, told The Associated Press. \u201cWe need to do this right now, because people \u2014 every hour, every second \u2014 are dying.\u201d
\nIn other developments:\u2014 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview that Russian and Ukrainian negotiators talk \u201calmost every day.\u201d However, he told Chinese state news agency Xinhua that \u201cprogress has not been easy.\u201d
\nA former U.S. Marine was killed while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces, his family said, in what would be the war\u2019s first known death of an American in combat. The U.S. has not confirmed the report.
\nGetting a full picture of the unfolding battle in the east has been difficult because airstrikes and artillery barrages have made it extremely dangerous for reporters to move around. Both Ukraine and the Moscow-backed rebels fighting in the east also have introduced tight restrictions on reporting from the combat zone.
\nNumerically, Russia\u2019s military manpower vastly exceeds Ukraine\u2019s. In the days before the war began, Western intelligence estimated Russia had positioned near the border as many as 190,000 troops; Ukraine\u2019s standing military is about 200,000, spread throughout the country.
\nBut so far, Russia\u2019s troops and the separatist forces appeared to have made only minor gains in the Donbas in the month since Moscow said it would focus its military strength in eastern Ukraine.
\nIn part because of the tenacity of the Ukrainian resistance, the U.S. believes the Russians are \u201cat least several days behind where they wanted to be\u201d as they try to encircle Ukrainian troops in the east, said a senior U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the American military\u2019s assessment.
\nThe British Defense Ministry offered a similar assessment in its daily assessment of the war, saying it believes Russian forces in Ukraine are likely suffering from \u201cweakened morale,\u201d along with a lack of unit-level skills and \u201cinconsistent air support.\u201d It did not say on what basis it made the evaluation.
\nDespite the village-by-village nature of the fight to gain ground in the Donbas, Russia\u2019s promised offensive still could materialize. Overall, the Russian army has an estimated 900,000 active-duty personnel. Russia also has a much larger air force and navy than Ukraine and possesses tactical nuclear weapons.
\nIn Mariupol, around 100,000 people were believed to still be in the city with little food, water or medicine. U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said the organization was negotiating with authorities in Moscow and Kyiv to create the conditions for safe passage.
\nUkraine has blamed the failure of numerous previous evacuation attempts on continued Russian shelling.
\nFor those who are in the Soviet-era Azovstal steel plant, a vast underground network of tunnels and bunkers has provided safety from airstrikes. But the situation has grown more dire after the Russians dropped \u201cbunker busters\u201d and other bombs on the plant, the mayor said.
\nLavrov, the Russian foreign minister, told Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya TV that the real problem is that \u201chumanitarian corridors are being ignored by Ukrainian ultra-nationals.\u201d
\nMoscow has repeatedly claimed right-wing Ukrainians were thwarting evacuation efforts and using civilians as human shields. The claims have not been verified.
\nThe Azov Regiment helping to defend the steel plant has its roots in the Azov Battalion, which was formed in 2014 by far-right activists at the start of the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine.
\nIn further comments published Saturday by Xinhua, Lavrov said Russia has evacuated over 1 million people from Ukraine since the war began, including more than 300 Chinese civilians.
\nThe foreign minister offered no evidence to support his claim in the interview. Ukraine has accused Moscow of forcefully sending Ukrainians out of the country.
\nLavrov also partly blamed the lack of progress in discussions to end the war on \u201cthe bellicose rhetoric and inflammatory actions of Western supporters of the Kyiv regime.\u201d Russian state TV nightly features guests suggesting Moscow use nuclear weapons in the conflict.
\nIn his nightly video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of trying to destroy the Donbas and all who live there.
\nThe constant attacks \u201cshow that Russia wants to empty this territory of all people,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cIf the Russian invaders are able to realize their plans even partially, then they have enough artillery and aircraft to turn the entire Donbas into stones, as they did with Mariupol,\u201d Zelenskyy said.
\nIn a neighborhood on the outskirts of Kharkiv that is regularly shelled by Russian forces, some residents remained in their apartments even though the buildings have charred gaping holes. There is no running water or electricity, so they gather outside to cook on an open flame.
\nUkrainian reservists staying in a neighborhood cellar said the Russians have hit the buildings with rockets, artillery and tank fire.
\n\u201cA tank can come at a short distance and fire all of its ammunition on residential areas. It doesn\u2019t care where. And it\u2019s impossible to figure out where it will fire,\u201d said Vladislav, who like others in the unit would only give his first name.
\nAnother reservist, who goes by the nickname Malysh, expressed frustration that he wasn\u2019t able to do more to stop the Russian advance.
\n\u201cI took up arms, but unfortunately I can\u2019t catch flying missiles with my bare hands and throw them back,\u201d he said.
\nIn the nearby village of Ruska Lozava, hundreds of people were evacuated after Ukrainian forces retook the city from Russian occupiers, according to the regional governor. Those who fled to Kharkiv spoke of dire conditions under the Russians, with little water or food and no electricity.
\n\u201cWe were hiding in the basement. It was horror. The basement was shaking from the explosions. We were screaming, we were crying and we were praying to God,\u201d resident Ludmila Bocharnikova said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Zelenskyy accuses Russia of trying to destroy Donbas KHARKIV\/MOSCOW Ukrainian forces fought Saturday to hold off a Russian advance in their country\u2019s south and east, where the Kremlin is seeking to capture the industrial Donbas region and Western military analysts said Moscow\u2019s offensive was going much slower than planned. The United Nations continued trying to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258346,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1023,3212,1849,456],"class_list":{"0":"post-258315","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-east","9":"tag-russian","10":"tag-south","11":"tag-ukraine"},"yoast_head":"\n