According to a US provider, satellite images show serious damage to civilian infrastructure and residential buildings in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
Dozens of high-rise buildings were badly damaged and there were fires, explains the provider of the images, the US company Maxar Technologies.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had previously said Mariupol had been besieged by Russian forces but was still under Ukrainian control.
Mariupol City Council said on Friday at least 1,582 civilians in the city had been killed as a result of Russian shelling and a 12-day siege.
Seven civilians killed in evacuation
According to the Ukrainian military intelligence service, seven residents were killed during the evacuation of a village east of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
The villagers wanted to leave Peremoha when there was a shelling, the secret service said on Saturday evening. Ukraine blamed Russian troops for it. This information could not be verified.
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“The protection of civilians in armed conflicts is governed by international humanitarian law,” the statement said. Deliberate attacks are therefore to be equated with war crimes.
Zelenskyy: Russia is ready for dialogue
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sees the first changes in Russia’s position after the stubborn military resistance of the Ukrainians. “Now they have started talking about something – and not just making ultimatums,” he told international journalists in Kyiv on Saturday.
The 44-year-old says he is happy with it, as it is the first time in over two years that Moscow has been willing to engage in dialogue.
Already on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke of movement in the negotiations. The Russian negotiators informed about “certain positive changes” in the “practically daily” talks.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Interfax agency that the talks would now be held in online format. Ukraine confirmed this.