Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff responded on Sunday to statements by Emmanuel Macron in which the French president said it was important not to “humiliate” Russia over the war in Ukraine.
In an interview with French regional newspapers on Saturday, Macron said that maintaining dialogue with Vladimir Putin was crucial “so that on the day the fighting ends we can build an exit ramp through diplomatic means.”
In a post on the Telegram messaging app on Sunday, when Russian airstrikes in Kyiv resumed for the first time since April, Andriy Yermak responded, saying: “Some countries are proposing not to ‘humiliate’ Russia. time, they bombard us: our cities, our people ”.
“It simply came to our notice then. . . And the responsibility for the crimes, for the genocide of the Ukrainians should be as strict as possible. The perpetrator is not responsible for the humiliation, but for justice, “said Yermak.
The French president made a similar comment in Strasbourg last month, saying a peace deal should finally be negotiated between Moscow and Kyiv.
France has played an intermediary role since before the invasion of Russia, with Macron making frequent calls with leaders from Ukraine, Russia and other countries. Working with European allies, France’s position has been to provide military and financial support to Ukraine, to support sanctions against Russia and to continue talks with all those involved.
But Macron has repeatedly said that any negotiated solution must be reached between Moscow and Kyiv “while respecting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The Elysée refused to respond to Yermak’s comments on Sunday. Elsewhere in the interview, Macron said he believed Putin had made a “historic and fundamental mistake” in invading Ukraine and that the Russian leader had “isolated” himself, a position he would find difficult to get out of.
The attacks in the Ukrainian capital, which according to local officials have not claimed any lives, came hours after the Russian president warned in an interview on state television that Moscow would intensify attacks if Western countries continued to “supply most powerful missiles “in the Ukrainian army.
“We will hit objects that we have not yet touched,” Putin said.
Sunday’s attacks in eastern Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities appeared to be aimed at hitting railway infrastructure, a common goal along with fuel depots from near-daily Russian missile attacks in Ukraine in the months since the invasion began. Russian on a large scale on February 24.
Experts say the strikes are aimed at disrupting the supply of Western weapons flowing into the country to the front lines at the eastern end of Donbas and the southern coastal regions.
Oleksandr Kamyshin, chief of the Ukrainian railway operator, said there were no depots at the facility and that it was used to repair railway wagons intended to be used to export grain.
Ukraine is unable to export up to 20 million tonnes of grain from last year’s harvest due to the Russian blockade of its Black Sea ports, and is frantically trying to offset part of the supply through rail exports to Europe.
“Its real goal is the economy and the civilian population. They want to cut us off from exporting Ukrainian products to the west, “Kamyshin wrote in the Telegram.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a post in Telegram that it used high-precision long-range air missiles for the attack on Kyiv. He said he destroyed T-72 tanks donated to Ukraine by Eastern European countries, as well as other unspecified armored vehicles, according to the ministry, were stored at a car repair facility on the outskirts of Kyiv. . Ukrainian officials did not confirm the Russian claims, which was not possible to verify.
State nuclear power company Energoatom said one of Russia’s first cruise missiles fired in the early hours of Sunday had flown “critically low” over the nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. It is one of four nuclear power plants operating in Ukraine, including the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, located in the southern regions occupied by Russia.
A woman sits in her damaged house in the eastern city of Soledar while artillery battles continue in the Donbas © Aris Messinis / AFP / Getty Images
Meanwhile, artillery battles continued to rage in the Donbas, where Ukraine claimed that its troops had pushed back Russian forces in the key city of Sievierodonetsk.
“The Russians [last week] it controlled 70% of Sievierodonetsk, but in two days they were repelled: the city is now divided in half, “said Serhiy Haidai, governor of the Luhansk region.
Sievierodonetsk, which seemed about to collapse last week, is one of the last major cities not yet under Russian occupation in the Lugansk region. Together with the Donetsk Oblast, it commits coal industrial mining and the steel plant in the eastern Donbas of Ukraine. Russian forces have tried unsuccessfully for months to encircle Ukrainian forces in the Donbas, including the cities of Donetsk Oblast west of Sievierodonetsk.
“For the past 24 hours, Ukrainian forces have been counterattacking in the controversial city of Sievierodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, which probably reduced the operational momentum that Russian forces had previously gained by concentrating combat units. and firepower, “the UK defense ministry’s intelligence unit tweeted on Sunday.