Heavy shelling in eastern Ukraine as US and allies prepare new Russian sanctions

over 3 years in The Irish Times

The United States and its allies on Wednesday prepared new sanctions on Moscow over civilian killings which Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy described as “war crimes”, as heavy fighting and Russian airstrikes pounded the besieged port of Mariupol.
The southern city of Mariupol has been under attack by Russian forces and constantly bombarded since the early days of the invasion almost six weeks ago, trapping tens of thousands of residents without food, water or power.
“The humanitarian situation in the city is worsening,” British military intelligence said on Wednesday.
“Most of the 160,000 remaining residents have no light, communication, medicine, heat or water. Russian forces have prevented humanitarian access, likely to pressure defenders to surrender.” Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Western sanctions over Russia’s February 24th invasion of Ukraine, the biggest assault on a European nation since the second World War, gained new impetus this week after dead civilians shot at close range were discovered in the northern town of Bucha, seized back from Russian forces.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv were not progressing as rapidly or energetically as it would like.
Russia has accused the west trying to derail peace talks with Ukraine by fuelling “hysteria” over allegations of war crimes by Moscow’s forces following their retreat from the Kyiv region.
Moscow denied targeting civilians in Bucha and described evidence presented as a “monstrous forgery” staged by the west to discredit it.
“The only thing I can say is that work (on the talks) is continuing,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call when asked about the prospect of another round of negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv.
“There is a still a long road ahead. The work process is ongoing but it is dragging along way more than we would like.”
Artillery
Russian artillery fire killed at least two people and wounded five at a humanitarian aid distribution point on Wednesday as Moscow’s forces bombarded towns and cities in eastern Ukraine, local officials said.
Authorities in the eastern region of Luhansk urged civilians to evacuate “while it is safe,” warning that Russian bombardments could cut off escape routes. Ukraine says Russian troops are regrouping and preparing for a new offensive in the Donbas area, which includes both the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko shared online photos from the town of Vuhledar, where he said Russian artillery fire had struck a humanitarian aid distribution point.
The photos showed two women stretched out on the ground. Another person had a serious leg wound and a fourth was shown with a bloodied leg, being helped into a rescue vehicle.
“At the moment it’s known that two people were killed and five were injured. We document all the crimes committed by the Russian Federation on our land,” Mr Kyrylenko wrote. Russia has denied targeting civilians. Reuters was unable immediately to verify Kyrlyenko’s account of the incident.
Local officials reported fighting in many part of eastern Ukraine and there were also reports of shelling and fighting in the south, where the port city of Mariupol is surrounded and under siege from Russian forces.
Mariupol’s capture could enable Russia to entrench a land passage between two separatist, self-proclaimed people’s republics in Donbas and the Crimea region which Russia seized and annexed in 2014.
Evacuations
Deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Ukraine was trying to evacuate trapped civilians through 11 humanitarian corridors across Ukraine, but that people trying to flee Mariupol would have to use their own vehicles.
The city mayor said last week up to 170,000 civilians were trapped in Mariupol with no power and dwindling supplies. The Luhansk region governor, Serhiy Gaidai, said Russian forces now controlled 60 per cent of the eastern town of Rubizhne and reported 81 mortar, artillery and rocket strikes across the region over the previous day.
“I appeal to every resident of the Luhansk region – evacuate while it is safe,” he wrote in an online post earlier on Wednesday. “While there are buses and trains – take this opportunity.”
Mr Gaidai said rail connections in the Donetsk region of Donbas had been damaged this week and took several hours to repair. “This is another alarm bell,” he said.
Mr Gaidai said separately that Russian forces were destroying “everything in their path” and would “stop at nothing.”
Meanwhile, 10 high-rise buildings were set on fire in the eastern Ukrainian town of Sievierodonetsk after Russian forces shelled the town on Wednesday, the governor of the eastern Luhansk region said in an online post.
He said that there was no information yet on any casualties. Mr Sievierodonetsk is the temporary headquarters of the regional authorities as Luhansk city has been controlled by Russia-backed separatists since 2014.
Russia says its “special military operation” is aimed at demilitarizing and “denazifying” Ukraine. The Kremlin’s position is rejected by Ukraine and the West as a pretext for an unprovoked invasion.
New sanctions
New sanctions set to be unveiled Wednesday are in part a response to Bucha, the White House said.
The measures, coordinated between Washington, G7 and the European Union, will target Russian banks and officials and ban new investment in Russia, the White House said.
Proposed EU sanctions, which the bloc’s 27 member states must approve, would ban buying Russian coal and prevent Russian ships from entering EU ports.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc was working on banning oil imports, as well. Europe, which obtains about a third of its natural gas from Russia, has been wary of the economic impact a total ban on Russian energy would bring.
But signalling strengthening EU resolve, Germany’s foreign minister said the coal ban was the first step toward an embargo on all Russian fossil fuel imports. Ukraine says banning Russian gas is vital to securing a deal to end the war in peace talks.
After an impassioned address to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Zelenskiy said new sanctions “against Russia must be commensurate with the gravity of the occupiers’ war crimes,” calling it a “crucial moment” for western leaders.
US President Joe Biden has approved a $100 million transfer of Javelin anti-armour missiles to Ukraine.
Mass grave
Ukrainian officials say between 150 and 300 bodies might be in a mass grave by a church in Bucha, north of the capital Kyiv.
Satellite images taken weeks ago show bodies of civilians on a street in the town, a private US company said, undercutting Russia’s claims that Ukrainian forces caused the deaths or that the scene was staged.
Reuters reporters saw at least four victims shot through the head in Bucha, one with their hands tied behind their back.
Residents have recounted cases of several others slain, some shot through their eyes and one apparently beaten to death and mutilated.
Since launching its invasion Russia has failed to capture a single major city in what it calls a “special military operation” aimed at demilitarising and “denazifying” Ukraine.
The Kremlin’s position is rejected by Ukraine and the West as a pretext for an unprovoked invasion that has uprooted a quarter of the country’s population.
– Reuters

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