Ukraine calls on Russia for a real truce in Mariupol, and the United Nations calls for a ceasefire
Presidential Adviser and chief Ukrainian negotiator, Mikhailo Podolyak, said yesterday that Russian forces are constantly bombing Mariupol, and urged Moscow to accept a "real Easter truce."
"Russia is constantly attacking the Azovstal complex in Mariupol, the place where civilians and the army are located is bombarded with heavy artillery," Podolyak added in a tweet via Twitter. He urged Russia to "think about what remains of its reputation" and called for a "real Easter truce in Mariupol" as well as the immediate opening of a humanitarian corridor for civilians and a special round of talks "to facilitate the exchange of military and civilians."
"Evil will not destroy the country," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a message on the occasion of Easter. Standing inside the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, he added in a video speech that Ukraine will overcome the darkness brought by the war. He continued, "We are facing difficult times, and on this day most of us do not wear bright clothes, but we are fighting for a bright idea."
The Ukrainian president threatened to withdraw his country from negotiations with Moscow if the Russian army killed the Ukrainian soldiers holed up in the Azovstal Metallurgical Complex in Mariupol, and if fake referendums were held in the Kherson region. "If our men are killed in Mariupol and if false referendums are held in the Kherson region, Ukraine will withdraw from any negotiating process," Zelensky said yesterday in Kyiv.
Zelensky condemned the decision of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to visit Moscow before coming to Kyiv. "It is a mistake to go to Russia first and then to Ukraine," he said, expressing his regret for the "complete lack of justice and logic in this arrangement." He added: “The war in Ukraine. No corpses on the streets of Moscow. It would make sense for him to go first to Ukraine, to see the people there.”
Zelensky renewed his call for a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to end the war, saying, "I believe that whoever started this war can end it," reiterating that he is not afraid to meet the Russian president.
On the ground, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said yesterday that Russia has deployed mobile Iskander-M missile launchers 60 km from the Ukrainian border. "The enemy has increased the number of troops in the Belgorod region by transferring and mobilizing additional units," the Ukrainian armed forces added. For his part, Sergei Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region, announced that 8 people were killed in Russian attacks on the region yesterday. Jayday wrote on Telegram: “They are literally bombing everything. All the time, around the clock.” He called on residents to evacuate the area.