Volodymyr Zelenskyy said mines left by Russia have kept Kyiv unsafe. The Red Cross was unable to evacuate Ukrainian refugees from Mariupol as planned.
KYIV, Ukraine -- As Russian forces pull back from Ukraine's capital region, retreating troops are creating a"catastrophic" situation for civilians by leaving mines around homes, abandoned equipment and"even the bodies of those killed," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Saturday.
Moscow's focus on eastern Ukraine also kept the besieged southern city of Mariupol in the crosshairs. The port city on the Sea of Azoz is located in the mostly Russian-speaking Donbas region, where Russia-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian troops for eight years and military analysts think Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking to expand control after his forces failed to secure Kyiv and other major cities.
"Mariupol has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance, and without its conquest, Putin cannot sit down at the negotiating table," Fesenko said. Zelenskyy said he discussed the humanitarian disaster in Mariupol with French President Emmanuel Macron by telephone and with the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, during her visit to Kyiv on Friday.
"Russian occupants have now left practically all of the Brovary district," Sapozhko said."Tonight, armed forces will work to clear settlements of occupants, military hardware, and possibly from mines."
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