Russian attacks in Ukraine continue. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military has claimed that Moscow wants to end the war by May 9. According to a report by the Kyiv Independent, intelligence sources from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have claimed that Russian troops are being told that the war should end by May 9. This date is widely celebrated in Russia as Victory Day over Nazi Germany.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has accused Moscow of forcibly taking thousands of its citizens to Russia. He claimed that some of them could be used as “hostages” to pressure Kyiv to leave the war.
️Ukrainian army: Russia wants to end war by May 9.
According to intelligence from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Russian troops are being told that the war must end by May 9 – widely celebrated in Russia as the day of victory over the Nazi Germany.
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) March 24, 2022
An Associated Press report said Ukraine’s Ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova said 402,000 people, including 84,000 children, had been taken against her will.
On the other hand, US President Joe Biden and Western allies have promised new sanctions and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, but their offers fell short of more robust military aid. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made this appeal in a video.
Russia’s ally Belarus warns of third world war
A prominent Belarusian leader has warned that Poland’s proposal to deploy Western peacekeeping forces to Ukraine could spark a third world war. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday it would mean World War III, referring to Poland’s offer of a peace mission last week. Belarus is an ally of Russia and has allowed Russia to use its territory to invade Ukraine. “The situation is very serious and tense,” he said.
Russian soldiers deliberately targeting food stores
A local government official in the northern city of Chernihiv has said a catastrophe is ahead for the population as Russian troops deliberately target food stores.
An airstrike this week destroyed a bridge over the Desna River, an important route for bringing food and other aid from Ukraine-controlled territory to the south. “It was through this bridge that humanitarian aid, medicines and food came into the city,” said city council secretary Oleksandr Lomako. He, however, claimed that the city was completely under the control of Ukrainian troops.