Lviv, Ukraine - Russia wants to split Ukraine into two, as happened with North and South Korea, alleged Ukraine's military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov on Sunday, vowing "total" guerrilla warfare to prevent a carve-up of the country.
The mayor of Chernihiv says the northern Ukrainian city is now completely encircled by Russian forces.
A resident of the besieged southern port city of Mariupol told the BBC news that hundreds of residents, were given “no option” but to leave for Russian-held parts of Ukraine or Russia itself.
President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the West to give Ukraine tanks, planes and missiles to help fend off the Russian forces, which the Kyiv government said were increasingly targeting fuel and food depots. Zelensky accused the West of lacking courage as his country fights to stave off Russia’s invading troops, making an exasperated plea for fighter jets and tanks to sustain a defense in a conflict that has ground into a war of attrition.
U.S. officials continued efforts to soften comments on Saturday from U.S. President Joe Biden, who said in a fiery speech in Poland that Russian leader Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power".
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington had no strategy of regime change in Moscow and that Biden had simply meant Putin could not be "empowered to wage war" against Ukraine or anywhere else.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, now in its 32nd day, has stalled in many areas, its aim to quickly encircle the capital, Kyiv, and force its surrender faltering in the face of staunch Ukrainian resistance, reinforced by weapons from the U.S. and other Western allies.
Britain’s Defense Ministry said Russia’s troops looked to be trying to encircle Ukrainian forces directly facing the two separatist-held areas in the country’s east. That would cut the bulk of Ukraine’s military off from the rest of the country.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned against the verbal escalation of the war in Ukraine, a day after his American counterpart Joe Biden described Russian leader Vladimir Putin as a butcher and said he shouldn't be allowed to remain in power.
-AP/BBC/Reuters