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Insists Moscow can be ‘pushed’ to stop war
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Trump condemns Russia’s actions as ‘disgusting’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged his allies to bring about “regime change” in Russia, hours after a Russian drone and missile attack on Kyiv killed 16 people including two children.
Zelenskyy expressed the belief that Russia could be “pushed” to stop the war, adding; “But if the world doesn’t aim to change the regime in Russia, that means even after the war ends, Moscow will still try to destabilise neighbouring countries”.
Speaking virtually to a conference marking the 50th anniversary of the cold war-era Helsinki accords on Thursday, the Ukrainian President said said the injured including 16 children and six police officers.
Meanwhile, authorities reported that Russia’s overnight strikes wounded at least 150 people, as more than 300 drones and eight cruise missiles were fired at Ukraine, with Kyiv the main target, from late Wednesday to early Thursday.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, one missile tore through a nine-storey residential building in the capital’s west, ripping off its facade.
It was the largest number of children hurt in a single attack on Kyiv during the war, the rescue service said.
On Thursday, Russia had laid claims to capturing the Ukrainian town of Chasiv Yar, a strategically important military hub in the eastern Donetsk region.
However, President Zelenskyy described Moscow’s claims as “Russian disinformation”, saying: “Ukrainian units are defending our positions.”
But Ukrainian military analyst Oleksandr Kovalenko hinted that Russian forces “have full control over the entire northern and eastern part” of Chasiv Yar, including districts that had been hardest to get. But he said fighting for the western side was ongoing, with the situation “very difficult”.
The battlefields reports could not be independently verified.
Reacting to the latest development, United States (US) President Donald Trump criticised Russia’s actions in Ukraine, suggesting new sanctions against Moscow were coming.
“Russia – I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing,” the US President said on Thursday, adding, “We’re going to put sanctions.”
“I don’t know that sanctions bother him,” Trump said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia’s attack came just days after Trump issued a 10-to-12-day ultimatum for Moscow to halt its invasion or face sanctions.
In another development, the Ukrainian Parliament has passed a law restoring independence to two anti-corruption bodies, essentially annulling another law adopted last week that prompted the biggest street protests since Russia’s full-scale invasion three years ago.
Several hundred protesters outside the Parliament building in Kyiv erupted into chants of “the people are the power” as the bill passed on Thursday.
President Zelenskyy is hoping the new law will put an end to what had threatened to become a political crisis domestically and had worried European allies.
He signed the law into force swiftly after the vote.
