Ukrainian troops repulsed several Russian attacks in the east of the country, British intelligence services said on Monday, while President Volodymyr Zelensky said thousands of Russian troops were gathering for a new offensive. Russian forces have also been pushing for control of the southern port city of Mariupol, the beacon between Russian-controlled areas to the west and east. “There are tens of thousands dead, but even so, the Russians are not stopping their attack,” Zelensky told the South Korean parliament via video link. Reuters could not verify the accuracy of his estimate. The Russian invasion – the most serious conflict in Europe since the Balkan wars of the 1990s – has left a mark of disaster that has drawn condemnation from Western countries and raised concerns about Putin’s broader ambitions. About a quarter of Ukraine’s 44 million people have been forced to flee their homes, cities have been reduced to rubble and thousands have been killed or injured – many of them civilians. Austrian leader Carl Nehamer was scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday to demand an end to the conflict. It would be Putin’s first face-to-face meeting with a European Union leader since the Russian invasion began on February 24. Russian forces have given up trying to occupy the capital, Kyiv, at least for now, but they are redoubled their efforts in eastern Ukraine. The British Ministry of Defense stated that the Russian bombing continues in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. However, Ukrainian forces had repulsed several attacks and destroyed Russian tanks, vehicles and artillery equipment, it said in its regular bulletin. Strong explosions shook cities in the south and east and air raid sirens were heard across Ukraine early Monday. Zelensky continued his campaign to build international support and rally his compatriots, warning that next week would be important. “Russian troops will move to even larger operations in the east of our state. They can use even more missiles against us, even more air bombs. But we are preparing for their actions. We will answer “, he said in a video speech late at night. Addressing the South Korean parliament, he said Russia was gathering tens of thousands of troops for the next attack. He asked Seoul for any military assistance he could provide. Since Russia invaded, Zelensky has called on Western powers to provide more defense assistance and to punish Moscow with tougher sanctions, including an embargo on its energy exports. Zelensky also said that Mariupol has been destroyed. Reuters reporters on Sunday saw several Russian tanks heading for a highway in the direction of the city. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that it is possible that the Russians will try to cut off the supply lines and hit the transport infrastructure. The Russian Defense Ministry said that high-precision missiles destroyed the headquarters of the Dnipro Battalion in Ukraine in the city of Zvonetsky. In a later statement, the ministry said Russian naval missiles on Sunday destroyed S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems supplied to Ukraine by a European country. The systems were hidden in a hangar on the outskirts of Dnipro in central Ukraine, he said. Reuters could not confirm the reports. Austrian Chancellor Carl Nehammer has said he will meet with Putin in Moscow on Monday. “We are militarily neutral, but (we have) a clear position on Russia’s aggressive war against #Ukraine,” Nehammer wrote on Twitter. “It has to stop! “We need humanitarian corridors, a ceasefire and a full investigation into war crimes.” The growing civilian casualties have sparked widespread international condemnation and new sanctions. Ludmila Zambaluk, head of the Dmitriv village unit north of Kiev, said dozens of civilian bodies had been found in the area. “There were more than 50 dead. They were shot at close range. There is a car where a 17-year-old child was burned, only bones were left. A woman was shot in the head. “A little further on, a man near his car was burned alive,” he said. Reuters could not confirm the reports. Moscow has denied allegations of war crimes by Ukraine and Western countries. It has repeatedly denied targeting civilians in what it calls a “special operation” to demilitarize and “denationalize” its southern neighbor. Ukraine and Western nations have dismissed it as an unfounded pretext for war. German Foreign Minister Annalena Bayerbock, speaking ahead of a meeting of European ministers in Luxembourg on Monday, said Berlin had seen “huge indications” of war crimes in Ukraine. French bank Societe Generale became the last company to leave Russia, agreeing to sell its stake in Rosbank and the Russian lender’s insurance subsidiaries to Interros Capital, a company linked to billionaire Vladimir Potanin. The Russian invasion has sparked a barrage of financial sanctions from the United States, Europe and Britain, forcing Western companies to sell their Russian assets. SocGen had been under increasing pressure to sever ties with Russia and close its investment in Rosbank for more than 15 years. Several EU ministers said Monday that the bloc’s executive branch was working on proposals to impose an oil embargo on Russia, although no agreement had yet been reached on banning Russian crude. The World Bank predicted on Sunday that the war would cause Ukraine’s economic output to collapse by 45 percent this year, with half of its operations shut down, grain exports cut mainly by Russia’s naval blockade and disaster, making economic activity impossible in many areas. The bank predicted that Russia’s GDP would shrink by 11.2 percent this year due to Western sanctions. Villages scattered on the outskirts of the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv bore significant damage on April 6 after being bombed by Russian forces. Reuters Our Morning and Afternoon Newsletters are compiled by Globe editors, giving you a brief overview of the day’s most important headlines. Register today.
