(AFP)-Russian forces continued to bombard Ukraine’s frontline cities on Sunday in a bid to build military momentum as global business and political elites rally in Davos, targeting Kiev’s diplomatic counter-offensive.
Ukrainian officials said shell and rocket attacks devastated Kharkiv in the north, Mykolaiv and Zaporozhye in the south, and eight civilians were killed in Donbass on the eastern front.
Three months after the invasion, Moscow forces focused on consolidating and expanding their gains in the Donbass and the southern coast of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada voted on Sunday that martial law was extended for another three months, until August 23.
Meanwhile, Kyiv is enjoying international support and accepting arms shipments to the West, even as EU powers struggle to negotiate more sanctions on Russia’s massive energy exports.
Polish President Andrzej Duda met with the Ukrainian parliament and met with President Volodymyr Zelensky the day before the Ukrainian leader’s video conference in Davos.
“After Bucha, Borodyanka, Mariupol, there may not be business in Russia as before,” Duda told Ukrainian representatives, referring to cities where Russian forces are accused of atrocities against civilians.
“An honest world cannot go back to business as before, forgetting about crimes, aggression and violated fundamental rights,” he said.
The World Economic Forum brings together the world’s business and political elite in the mountainous Swiss resort of Davos, and this year’s focus is the crisis in Ukraine.
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– Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 25, 2020
Zelensky is scheduled to hold a video conference with delegates on Monday night to mark the opening of the Ukraine House in Davos, a forum for Kyiv and its international supporters.
In March, Davos organizers cut ties with Russian companies and officials and announced that people under international sanctions would not be admitted to the event.
Western countries have rallied to defend Ukraine on their own soil, led by their neighbors such as the United States and Poland, who have only approved a $40 billion military budget for Kyiv.
However, some European countries that rely on Russia’s oil supplies, including Hungary, are resisting calls for a crude embargo, and major EU economic powers like Germany remain major gas importers.
Duda emphasized that Poland and Ukraine “have a common future within the European Union” and warned against attempts by some European countries to compromise with Russia or to take decisions “behind Ukraine”.
However, some EU members are hesitant about Kiev’s ambitions to join the bloc. French President Emmanuel Macron has proposed the creation of a “European political community” as a kind of gateway for full membership.
Zelensky rejected this idea.
“We don’t need such concessions,” he said at a press conference with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa on Saturday.
“Because believe me, this will not be a compromise between Ukraine and Europe, it will be another compromise between Europe and Russia.”
After a little over 12 weeks of intense fighting, Ukrainian forces stopped Russian attempts to capture Kiev and the northern city of Kharkov, but were under intense pressure in eastern Donbas.
The Moscow army defeated and captured the port of Mariupol on the Black Sea, exposing the eastern Ukrainian troops and cities to relentless ground fire and artillery.
“No job, no food, no water,” 52-year-old Anzhela Kopitsa said while crying in front of AFP reporters on her Russian-sponsored trip to Mariupol.
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– Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 22, 2019
Kopyta said that his home and life were devastated during the fighting in the port, and that “children in maternity hospitals starved to death”.
The formerly bustling port city on the Sea of Azov has lost its strength since the beginning of March and is now a wasteland, a plot of burnt buildings among lush gardens of tree-lined streets and parks. .
The fierce fighting in recent weeks has subsided, and the streets are now patrolled by the Russian army and its separatist allies.
Yelena Ilyina, who teaches at a university in Mariupol, cried while describing her life to AFP, saying that her apartment was destroyed and she now lives with her daughter.
“I have nothing left,” said the 55-year-old actress. “I want to live quietly in my apartment, go to work and talk to the children.”
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– Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 25, 2019
Source: Breitbart
