Overview: explosions near Lviv, about 13,000 civilians evacuated on Saturday
These are the main developments from Saturday evening and the night from Saturday to Sunday:
- Explosions were heard in the western city of Lviv last night, CNN and the German news agency DPA report, among others. It would be the first time since the start of the war that the city has been attacked by Russia. It is still unclear where exactly the explosions took place. In many regions in Ukraine, the air-raid siren sounded in recent hours and residents had to spend the night in an air raid shelter.
- Some 13,000 Ukrainians were evacuated from a war zone on Saturday. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced this, Reuters news agency reported. On Friday, according to the Ukrainian authorities, there were almost half less at 7,000. It is said that the evacuation of civilians from the city of Mariupol, besieged by the Russian military, was said to have been unsuccessful. According to Vereshchuk, the Russians continued to shell the city despite agreements made to create a safe escape route. Russia, in turn, denies the allegations and claims that Ukraine in particular did not comply with the ceasefire.
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday he saw a “fundamentally different” stance in Russia’s negotiations to end the war. Although it is not clear exactly what has changed, according to Zelensky, Russia would no longer issue “mere ultimatums”, but “have started talking”. Vladimir Putin is said to have hinted in a telephone conversation with Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz that he has no intention of laying down their arms yet.