Photo: Alexey Furman / Getty Images
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar posted on Saturday that the entire kyiv region had been liberated from Russian military forces on her official Facebook page.
“Irpin, Bucha, Hostomel and the entire kyiv region were liberated from the invader!” Maliar wrote. And she warned that they must wait to enter those settlements until their inspection is complete, because the Russian troops have left mines during their retreat.
Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said that Russia’s withdrawal from the northern areas of the country is “slow but noticeable”, adding that the Russian forces are “preparing for new and powerful blows”.
Zelenskyy, in his Saturday night’s video address to the nation, said that Ukraine knows that Russia has the forces to exert even more pressure on eastern and southern Ukraine.
“What is the objective of the Russian troops? They want to seize Donbas and southern Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “What is our goal? Defend ourselves, our freedom, our land and our people”.
Zelensky pointed out that a significant part of the Russian forces is tied up around Mariupol, where the defenders of the city continue to fight.
The President of Ukraine once again appealed to the West for more modern weapons, such as anti-missile systems and airplanes.
Peace talks
In another development of the day, the possibility of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia seemed to advance on Saturday.
Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said that the draft documents of the Ukraine-Russia peace treaty were at a sufficiently advanced stage to allow direct talks between Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky.
Arakhamia indicated that there was a high probability that such a meeting could take place in Turkey.
Russian casualties in Ukraine
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated on Saturday that about 18,000 Russian soldiers have died since the beginning of the invasion. At that level, the number of Russian military personnel said to have been killed in Ukraine exceeds the upper limit of a NATO estimate of 7,000 and 15,04 dead Russian soldiers.
More than 4,000 Ukrainians were evacuated
More than 4,260 Ukrainians were evacuated on Saturday as Russia continues its attack on Ukraine .
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that people were fleeing in evacuation convoys and by their own means. Ten buses carrying more than 300 residents of Mariupol took them on Saturday from the Berdyansk city.
Other 2,650 people were evacuated from the cities of Severodonetsk, Rubizhne, Lysychansk, Kreminna, Popasna and Nyzhne in the Luhansk region. A little more than 1,260 people traveled in their own means of transport from Mariupol and Berdyansk to Zaporizhia.
Vereshchuk said that the evacuations would continue until Sunday morning.
It is believed that around 100,000 people remain in Mariupol and face severe shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine.
With information from The Associated Press, CNN and NBC News
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