Cities in Ukraine still under constant fire

It’s the second weekend since the war began that Ukrainians have endured under fire.

By Jeanne Plaumann

The Russian attacks in Kharkiv, Irpin and Mariupol are particularly bad. But in other cities in Ukraine, too, people have had to stay in shelters for days.

On the eleventh day of Vladimir Putin’s (69) bloody war in Ukraine, 1.5 million people are now fleeing. However, this is not without danger: on Sunday morning, fleeing Ukrainians in Irpin were shot at.

irpin

Escape from the city, only eight kilometers from Kyiv, which is threatened by the Russian armed forces, is difficult. The central bridge over the Irpin River was blown up, people have to get to the other side over the remains of concrete and metal.

A man fleeing Irpin has to take cover from Russian fire during the evacuation (Photo: picture alliance)
A man fleeing Irpin has to take cover from Russian fire during the evacuation (Photo: picture alliance)

The shock on Sunday morning: CNN correspondent Clarissa Ward (42) reports that the very route that so many people use to flee Irpin is being shot at.

The pictures once again make it clear: the Russian troops shoot at everything that moves completely indiscriminately.

Kharkiv

The north-east Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has also been under constant fire from Putin’s troops for days. In the night to Sunday, several houses burned again. The city is a single field of rubble.

The city of Kharkiv is completely destroyed by Russian rocket fire (Photo: @sashasasha127/Twitter)
The city of Kharkiv is completely destroyed by Russian rocket fire (Photo: @sashasasha127/Twitter)

The head of the Ukrainian delegation for talks with Russia had raised hopes on Saturday that a humanitarian corridor would soon leave the city. “God willing” there will be a corridor on Sunday, wrote David Arachamija on Facebook on Sunday night. However, that didn’t happen.


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In Kharkiv, almost the entire city was destroyed by Russian shelling – housing estates and schools were hit repeatedly.

Mariupol

The situation in the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol is dramatic. BILD reporter Paul Ronzheimer said on BILD LIVE: “There is no water and no more electricity.” The people in Mariupol can no longer heat either. Kremlin despot Putin wants to “bomb the city completely to pieces” and has already started to do so. Ronzheimer then said:

“If you look at the damage to the buildings in Mariupol, how everything has already been reduced to rubble and ashes, then you can imagine what is still to come here in Kyiv.”

► According to the aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the humanitarian situation in Mariupol is “catastrophic”. MSF emergency coordinator in Ukraine Laurent Ligozat told AFP on Saturday that the situation in the big city was “worsening by the day”. It is “essential” that the civilian population is taken out of the city via a humanitarian corridor.

Two attempts to evacuate civilians in the city, on Saturday and Sunday, failed because the agreed ceasefire was repeatedly broken.

Vinnytsia airport destroyed

Vinnytsia airport was completely destroyed in a missile attack by Russia (Photo: twitter/nexta_tv)
Vinnytsia airport was completely destroyed in a missile attack by Russia (Photo: twitter/nexta_tv)

The airport in the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, around 200 kilometers southwest of Kyiv, was destroyed by Russian rocket attacks on Sunday afternoon. The airport was used for both civil and military purposes.

“The airport has been completely destroyed,” said Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (44) in a video message on his Telegram channel. Accordingly, eight rockets were fired at the site.

Second invasion convoy on the way

Meanwhile, there is also bad news for the residents of the capital Kyiv.

Tanks enter Ukraine, in Mariupol (PHOTO: CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS)
Tanks enter Ukraine, in Mariupol (PHOTO: CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS)

After Ukrainian soldiers were able to partially recapture the suburbs of Irpin, Bucha and Hostomel in the past few days, Russia’s dictator launched a new attack on the strategically important cities on Sunday.

Ukrainian activist network “EuromaidanPR” said: “Hostomel (about 30 km from Kyiv, amn. ed.): Russian terrorists with more than 200 military vehicles entered the city. Clashes with Ukrainian forces have begun.”

Smoke rises in Mariupol after an attack (Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)
Smoke rises in Mariupol after an attack (Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

This confirms the dire fears of Kievans: Putin has not yet given up on conquering the city. Despite massive losses and a total failure of his army in the first phase of the war, he tries to advance further towards the metropolis.

Zelenskyi: Russians ‘prepare to bomb Odessa’

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy has accused Russian troops of preparing to bomb the historic Black Sea port city of Odessa as concerns rise over the capital, Kyiv.

“They are preparing to bomb Odessa. Odessa!” said the head of state in a video message on Sunday. “It’s going to be a war crime, it’s going to be a historic crime.”

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