Russia-Ukraine war: Mariupol's seige will be remembered for centuries: Zelenskyy
Sunday, 20 March 2022 (10:29 IST)
Kyiv: Russian attacks on the besieged city of Mariupol is as "act of terror" and will be "remembered for centuries", Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday.
CNN quoted the President as saying that Mariupol will go down in history as an example of war crimes. He further said that the Russian military has sustained "unprecedented losses" and about "80- 90 per cent" Russian units been "destroyed".
He said, "The 24th day of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine is over. After eight years of aggression, Ukrainians have proved that they know how to fight more professionally than an army that has been fighting for decades in different regions and under different conditions. We respond with wisdom and courage to the huge number of their equipment and soldiers sent to Ukraine. "That is why, for example, the Ukrainian Chornobayivka will go down in war history. This is a place where the Russian military and their commanders have shown themselves completely as they are: incompetent, able to simply drive their people to slaughter."
According to CNN, the President during his speech switched from speaking Ukrainian to Russian and said in areas where heavy fighting have taken place, the front line of defense is "littered with corpses of the Russian soldiers." "And these corpses, these dead bodies, are not being picked up by anyone. New units are being sent to advance right over them," he said.
He pointed out that eight evacuation corridors were operating on Saturday but due to Russian shelling, authorities were unable to rescue people from Borodyanka in the Kyiv region, CNN reported.
"The Russian troops have blocked our convoy. Why? Their goal remains the same. Again, they are trying to create an image for their propaganda as if Ukraine has left its citizens without the essentials, as if Russia is constantly rescuing them from something," he added.
Meanwhile, citing the Berdyansk City council, The Kyiv Independent reported that the convoy was heading to Berdyansk from Zaporizhzhia to pick up fleeing Mariupol residents but was stopped by Russian occupying forces near the village Azovske, three kilometers from Berdyansk. (UNI)
