Ukraine-Russia war latest: Zelensky condemns ‘pure terrorism’ as Putin’s forces hit Kharkiv with fresh strikes – UK Times

Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned “savage” Russian strikes on Kharkiv which have left at least four people dead and dozens of people wounded in Ukraine’s second city over the past 24 hours.

Referring to the second batch of strikes on Saturday afternoon, which followed overnight strikes that killed three people, the Ukrainian president said: “As of now, over 40 people have been reported injured and one person killed in Kharkiv due to a Russian aerial bomb strike.

“This is another savage killing. Aerial bombs were dropped on civilians in the city – there is even a children’s railway nearby. This makes no military sense. This is pure terrorism. And this has been going on for more than three years of the full-scale war.

“This cannot be ignored. This cannot be turned a blind eye to. And this is not some kind of game. Every day, we lose our people only because Russia feels it can act with impunity. Russia must be firmly forced into peace.”

Here are the comments from Donald Trump that have sparked anger in Moscow, as the US president likened the war to “two young children like crazy, they hate each other, they’re fighting in a park”, adding: “Sometimes you’re better off letting them fight for a while”.

One person has been killed and 18 people injured in a guided bomb strike on Kharkiv, the city’s mayor has said.

In an attack which comes just hours after three were killed and 21 wounded in an overnight assault on the city, mayor Igor Terekhov said fresh Russian strikes had caused more casualties on Saturday afternoon.

The latest assault brings the total number of people killed in the city to four, with at least 39 others wounded.

The “meat grinder” assaults by Russian infantry have almost stopped, reports The Independent’s Sam Kiley.

In a report from the world affairs editor, Ukrainian officers have told The Independent that Russian artillery bombardments have fallen away as drones have easily tracked and destroyed the big guns of the traditional battlefield.

And Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb, in which Kyiv claimed to have destroyed or damaged a third of Russia’s strategic bombers along with some spy planes in a staggering long-range, long-term operation that hit Russian airfields 5,000km apart, has greatly boosted morale.

Along with ongoing long-range assaults with drones on Moscow’s airports, its energy infrastructure, and commanders themselves, Ukraine has turned the tactics of hybrid warfare developed by Russia back on Putin.

Residents of the homes damaged by Russia’s strikes in Kharvkiv describe their buildings going up in flames.

Alina Belous said that she had tried to extinguish flames with buckets of water to rescue a young girl trapped inside a burning building who had called out for help, AP news reports.

“We were trying to put it out ourselves with our buckets, together with our neighbours. Then the rescuers arrived and started helping us put out the fire, but there was smok,e and they worried that we couldn’t stay there. When the ceiling started falling off, they took us out,” she said.

Local resident Vadym Ihnachenko said that he thought at first that it was a neighboring building going up in flames.

“But when we saw sparks coming from the top, we realized it was our building.”

Here’s what you need to know following the latest outbreak of attacks in the Russia/Ukraine war.

• On Friday, Russia struck six Ukrainian territories, killing at least six people and wounding about 80. Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk and two people in Chernihiv.

• President Trump also said that it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia “fight for a while”
• Meanwhile, later on Saturday, Russia and Ukraine each accused the other of endangering plans to swap 6,000 bodies of soldiers killed in action, agreed upon during direct talks in Istanbul on Monday that otherwise made no progress towards ending the war.

Reports by Associated Press

Ukrainian officials said on Saturday, urging Moscow to stop “playing dirty games” and return to constructive work, according to reports from Reuters.

Vladimir Medinsky, Kremlin aide, claimed on Saturday that Ukraine had unexpectedly postponed exchanging prisoners of war and accepting the bodies of killed soldiers for an indefinite period.

Ukraine has now denied this. Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said that there was no fixed date for the return of bodies and that Russia was not sticking to the agreed parameters of the PoW swap, accusing Moscow of “dirty games” and “manipulations.”

The second round of peace talks in Istanbul ended with an agreement to swap more prisoners of war.

The two sides committed to returning the bodies of 12,000 soldiers and to swap all sick and heavily wounded prisoners of war. They also agreed to swap those who are aged under 25.

Ukrainian negotiators said Russia had again rejected an “unconditional ceasefire”.

However, the Russian team proposed a two or three-day truce “in certain areas” of the vast front line.

There are several conflicting accounts of the delayed prisoner exchange

Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War has refuted Russian claims that Ukraine postponed a planned weekend prisoner exchange.

It said submitted lists to Russia for prisoners to exchange “in accordance with clearly defined categories agreed” in Istanbul last week.

But it claimed Russia submitted lists that did not comply with these agreements, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

The Coordination Headquarters stated: “Regarding the repatriation of bodies – an agreement was indeed reached. However, no date was agreed. Instead of following the agreed process, the Russian side resorted to unilateral actions that were not coordinated within the joint framework.”

It adds that Ukraine is ready to work for an exchange of prisoners and bodies, and calls on Russia to work constructively with them.

Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky accused Ukraine of postponing the prisoner swap, which Ukraine denies.

Medinsky said Russia had already started an exchange of bodies and prisoners of war which he says both sides had agreed to, the BBC reported.

More than 1,000 prisoners from each side are set to be released.

But Medinsky claims Ukrainian negotiators did not arrive at the agreed upon location.

He said the Russian team “are there” and ready “to work”.