While Russian forces allegedly raped and brutalized Ukrainian citizens, Ukraine begged for more Western armaments to help end the Mariupol siege and deter an expected Russian offensive in the east.
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Russia may use chemical weapons, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Monday as forces gathered in the eastern Donbas region for a new assault on Mariupol, where hundreds died during a near-seven-week siege.
“When it comes on the necessary weapons, we still depend on supplies, on our partners. Unfortunately we are not getting as much as we need to end this war faster. In particular, to lift the blockade of Mariupol,” he stated.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer stated after discussions in Moscow on Monday that a massive onslaught in the east was “being prepared”.
Russia has now switched its attention to the Donbass region, where it demands that Ukraine give power to separatist forces in exchange for peace. It would be possible for Moscow to attempt to encircle and isolate the main Ukrainian force in the east if it were to capture Mariupol. The withdrawal of Russian forces from the environs of Kyiv has brought to light horrifying charges of war crimes committed by the Russian military. Ukraine’s deputy prime minister accused Russia of detaining citizens, including journalists, activists, and elected officials, in jails located on Russian territory. The United States has attempted to exert pressure on Putin to withdraw his soldiers by prohibiting Russian oil and gas exports and persuading allies to do the same. Since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict, India has imported more Russian crude oil than it did in the entire previous year combined.
“The brutality displayed against Ukrainian civilians has raised all red flags,” senior U.N. official Sima Bahous told the Security Council. “We are increasingly hearing of rape and sexual violence,” she said.
Kateryna Cherepakha, Rights group president: “Violence and rape is used now as a weapon of war by Russian invaders in Ukraine”.
