Calls from Kyiv come as the Ukrainian military warns that Russian invading troops are regrouping and preparing for an attack in the eastern Donbass region, aiming to occupy territory in the two administrative districts that have been partially occupied by separatists since the uprising. Moscow in 2014. “The main efforts of the occupiers are focused on preparing an offensive operation in eastern Ukraine, aimed at full control of the territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces said on Thursday after the withdrawal of Russian troops. from the suburbs of Kiev and the north of the country in recent days. Ukrainian military authorities on Wednesday called on residents living in Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as in parts of the northeastern Kharkiv region, to leave “while they still have a chance”.

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“My agenda is very simple. “It has only three elements on it,” said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba on Thursday ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. “They are guns, weapons and weapons.” “The more weapons we have and the faster they reach Ukraine, the more lives will be saved,” he added. This echoed Zelensky’s call, saying that failing to provide more weapons and tightening sanctions on Russia would be tantamount to giving Moscow “permission” to step up its attack. “Unless there is a really useful package of sanctions against Russia, if there is not the really necessary supply of weapons to us, the weapons for which we have asked many times. . . “It will seem to Russia like a permit, like a permit to go further,” he said in a midnight sermon. “Like permission to start a new bloody wave in Donbass.” Zelensky also called on individual Russians to demand an end to the war as he entered his seventh week. “In demanding peace, it is better to lose something, to face the Russian repressive machine, than to be equated with the Nazis for the rest of your life,” he said. NATO member states have supplied Ukraine with anti-tank missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and other defense weapons, but have refused to supply other weapons or impose a no-fly zone over the country, as requested by its government, out of concern. threatens to involve Russia in a wider war. The United States this week approved $ 100 million in security aid to Ukraine to buy Javelin anti-tank systems. Kuleba, who stands next to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, said he was asking NATO for military aircraft, missiles, armored vehicles and heavy air defense systems. Stoltenberg said he “urged the allies to provide further support to many different types of systems” and that more weapons for Ukraine would be “an important issue at today’s meeting”. In addition to supplying Ukraine with weapons, Western countries have sought to punish Russia with economic sanctions. Washington imposed tougher sanctions on Sberbank, Russia’s largest financial institution, and Alfa-Bank, its largest private bank, on Wednesday, further easing financial pressure on Moscow as the EU moved to target more oligarchs and ban coal imports from Russia. Calls for Ukraine’s defense and tougher sanctions on Russia have risen sharply this week following reports of atrocities committed by Russian troops before withdrawing from the outskirts of Kiev.

Ukrainian troops, government officials and journalists have found the bodies of hundreds of civilians, some claiming to have been tortured, and heard reports of brief killings, rapes and other human rights abuses by surviving residents. Kuleba said Ukraine still demanded “a full oil and gas embargo on Russia.” He added that he hoped that no more war crimes allegations would be needed to force the West to take further action. “Honestly, I hope we will never face a situation again when. . . “We need atrocities like Bucha to be revealed and to impress and shock other partners as long as they sit down and say okay, okay, we will impose new sanctions,” Kuleba added. Russia has denied the allegations, and state media have accused Ukraine of plotting to assassinate them, including by hiring actors. US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and other leaders have called for an investigation into Russian officials responsible for what they called war crimes. The UN General Assembly is set to vote on Thursday on whether to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council. Follow John Reed and Henry Foy on Twitter: @JohnReedwrites @HenryJFoy

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