Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has called on Russia to renegotiate an end to the war, but he also said that Ukraine would not agree to give up any of its territories for the sake of peace. Zelensky appeared to respond to Colonel General Sergei Rudskoi, the deputy chief of the Russian General Staff, in his video address to the nation Friday night.
Rudskoi had stated that the Russian army would now focus on the main goal, the liberation of the Donbass. Russia-backed separatists have controlled part of eastern Ukraine’s Donbass region since 2014. Russian forces are battling for control of more territory from Ukraine, including the city of Mariupol. Zelensky noted that the Russian army had lost thousands of soldiers but was still not able to capture Kyiv or Kharkiv.
Russia’s attack on Ukrainian hospitals
It’s been a month since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began. During this time the Russian military has attacked hospitals, ambulances, doctors, patients and even newborns in Ukraine. The Associated Press has independently observed at least 34 such attacks. With each new attack, there is a growing demand for war crimes trials against Russian President Vladimir Putin, his general and top Kremlin (Russian presidential office) advisers. In order to convict them, prosecutors must show that the attacks were not merely accidents or damage caused.
Russia claims 1,351 soldiers killed in Ukraine
Russia’s deputy chief of the military general staff said on Friday that 1,351 Russian soldiers had been killed in Ukraine. Colonel-General Sergei Rudskoi said 3,825 Russian soldiers were wounded. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) estimated that between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers were killed during the four-week war in Ukraine. The Russian figure does not include Russian-backed separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine.