Premium| Listen to this article |
Russia-Ukraine war: Just as the Russian forces tightened their grip over Ukraine as the invasion entered day 12 on Monday, Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelenskyy rallied his people to remain defiant, especially those in cities occupied by Russians. “You should take to the streets! You should fight!" he said Saturday on Ukrainian television. “It is necessary to go out and drive this evil out of our cities, from our land."
The areas that are currently under heavy shelling include the outskirts of Kyiv, Chernihiv in the north, Mykolaiv in the south, and Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, as per report by the news agency Associated Press. This comes at a time when leagues of top multinational firms suspended their services from Russia, with Netflix, TikTok becoming the latest companies to pull out from Russia.
Amid ongoing crisis, the President of France Emmanuel Macron took to Twitter to share, “I spoke with President Putin and then with President Zelensky. We are striving to preserve the integrity of Ukraine's civilian nuclear plants, in addition to other priority demands we presented to Russia: a ceasefire and the protection of civilians."
Russian forces have stepped up their shelling around residential areas, Ukraine's presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich said on late Sunday. "The latest wave of missile strikes came as darkness fell," he said in a televised address. Food, water, medicine and almost all other supplies were in desperately short supply in the port city of Mariupol, where Russian and Ukrainian forces had agreed to an 11-hour cease-fire that would allow civilians and the wounded to be evacuated. But Russian attacks quickly closed the humanitarian corridor, Ukrainian officials said.
Ukraine's President Volodymr Zelensky raged against the growing destruction and death toll, accusing Russian troops of "murder, deliberate murder" in an address. "We will not forgive, we will not forget, we will punish everyone who committed atrocities in this war on our land," he said. "There will be no quiet place on this Earth except the grave."
The third round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian leaders is planned for Monday. Another development influenced by the global situation includes the oil prices soaring more than 6%, touching their highest since 2008 on Monday. This came after the United States and European allies mull a Russian oil import ban. Additionally, the price of regular gasoline broke $4 per gallon (3.8 liters) on average across the US on Sunday for the first time since 2008. According to the AAA motor club, the price of regular gas rose by almost 41 cents.
Over 20,000 people from 52 countries have already volunteered to fight in Ukraine, claimed Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, AP reported. The minister did not say how many of the foreign volunteers have arrived in Ukraine. "The whole world today is on Ukraine’s side not only in words but in deeds," Kuleba said on Ukrainian television Sunday night.
Apart from Netflix and TikTok, two among the big four accounting firms are pulling out of Russia over its war in Ukraine as well. KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) both said Sunday they would end their relationships with their Russia-based member firms. KPMG said it was also pulling out of Belarus.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to the West to strengthen sanctions against Russia. "The audacity of the aggressor is a clear signal to the West that the sanctions imposed on Russia are not sufficient," Zelenskyy said. The war has caused 1.5 million people to flee the country, multiple news agencies reported. The head of the UN refugee agency has called the exodus “the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II."
(With inputs from agencies)
Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!!