Plumes of smoke billow from a building in the strategic port city of Mariupol which has endured 11 days of intense bombardment +15 View gallery Plumes of smoke billow from a building in the strategic port city of Mariupol which has endured 11 days of intense bombardment Cars line the streets out of Kyiv as desperate residents try to flee the city which is bracing itself for an imminent onslaught from Russia +15 View gallery Cars line the streets out of Kyiv as desperate residents try to flee the city which is bracing itself for an imminent onslaught from Russia The crisis in Mariupol deepened further as the death toll passed 1,500. Pictured: The aftermath of Russian artillery shelling on a residential area in Mariupol where a rocket hit a house +15 View gallery The crisis in Mariupol deepened further as the death toll passed 1,500. Pictured: The aftermath of Russian artillery shelling on a residential area in Mariupol where a rocket hit a house Ukrainian officials claimed that Melitopol's mayor had been kidnapped after he 'refused to co-operate with the enemy'. Following the alleged kidnapping of Mr Fedorov, there were reports of thousands of residents in Melitopol taking to the streets to protest. Video footage, shared by Ukrainian officials, appeared to show crowds of defiant residents carrying Ukrainian flags as they gathered near an occupied administration building. Here's how YOU can help: Donate here to the Mail Force Ukraine Appeal Readers of Mail Newspapers and MailOnline have always shown immense generosity at times of crisis. Calling upon that human spirit, we are supporting a huge push to raise money for refugees from Ukraine. For, surely, no one can fail to be moved by the heartbreaking images and stories of families – mostly women, children, the infirm and elderly – fleeing from the bombs and guns. As this tally of misery increases over the coming days and months, these innocent victims of this conflict will require accommodation, schools and medical support. Donations to the Mail Force Ukraine Appeal will be used to help charities and aid organisations providing such essential services. In the name of charity and compassion, we urge all our readers to give swiftly and generously. TO MAKE A DONATION ONLINE Donate at www.mailforcecharity.co.uk/donate To add Gift Aid to a donation – even one already made – complete an online form found here: mymail.co.uk/ukraine Via bank transfer, please use these details: Account name: Mail Force Charity Account number: 48867365 Sort code: 60-00-01 TO MAKE A DONATION VIA CHEQUE Make your cheque payable to 'Mail Force' and post it to: Mail Newspapers Ukraine Appeal, GFM, 42 Phoenix Court, Hawkins Road, Colchester, Essex CO2 8JY TO MAKE A DONATION FROM THE US US readers can donate to the appeal via a bank transfer to Associated Newspapers or by sending checks to dailymail.com HQ at 51 Astor Place (9th floor), New York, NY 10003 Zelensky also accused Vladimir Putin's troops of 'moving to a new stage of terror' due to a lack of support for the invasion in Ukraine. 'This is obviously a sign of weakness of the invaders... They have moved to a new stage of terror in which they are trying to physically eliminate representatives of legitimate local Ukrainian authorities,' he added. Zelensky hailed Mr Fedorov as a mayor who 'bravely defends Ukraine' and his community as he said the resistance of Ukrainians would not be changed by 'putting pressure on mayors or kidnapping mayors'. The prosecutor's office of the Luhansk People's Republic, a Moscow-backed rebel region in eastern Ukraine, said on its website there was a criminal case against Mr Fedorov. The office accused him of 'terrorist activities' and of financing the nationalist militia Right Sector to 'commit terrorist crimes against Donbass civilians'. Ukraine's ministry of foreign affairs described the alleged abduction as a war crime, adding: 'We call on the international community to respond immediately to the abduction of Ivan Fedorov and other civilians, and to increase pressure on Russia to end its barbaric war against the Ukrainian people.' Russian forces captured Melitopol, which has a population of 150,000, on February 26. Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russian armoured vehicles are still slowly advancing on the city's northeast after being stalled for days, and a military airfield south of the city in Vasylkiv has been hit by missiles, destroying the runway, a fuel depot and an ammunition store. The bulk of Russian ground forces are now around 15 miles from the centre but elements of the large column have dispersed in a bid to encircle the city, after pummelling the northwest suburbs including Irpin and Bucha. A column of thick black smoke was seen rising from the eastern suburbs of Kyiv this morning, but there is still no sign of ground forces moving into the outskirts. It comes as Russian attacks are continuing throughout the county today despite a supposed ceasefire to allow trapped citizens to escape in evacuation routes. Former deputy Secretary General of NATO, Rose Gottemoeller, says she believes current tactics betray a sign of weakness from Putin's forces, saying she is 'sceptical' of any success in the capital. She slammed their poor logistics saying she does not believe they have enough fuel supply for battle in the city which has faced constant shelling and fighting on the outskirts but is still bracing for an all-out assault. Three Russian generals out of 20 have been killed so far in Putin's botched invasion, which has also seen the loss of 173 tanks, 12 aircraft and 345 troop carriers. In an address to the nation today, Zelensky said Ukraine has inflicted Russia's heaviest losses in decades, claiming 31 battalion tactical groups have been rendered incapable of combat. Putin's troops have also shelled a mosque housing 86 people including 34 children in the besieged city of Mariupol. It is not yet known if there are any casualties. Mykolaiv remains under heavy bombardment, while new artillery and air attacks have targeted Dnipro and Kropyvnytskyi. Ukraine intelligence officials also warned Russia is stockpiling the bodies of dead soldiers to stage a false flag attack at Chernobyl, releasing radioactive waste in a 'man-made catastrophe' that would amount to a 'terrorist attack'.

 A captured Russian soldier has claimed that Putin's military forces have a special squad set up for killing deserters who don't want to take part in the invasion of Ukraine.

The 22-year-old man said soldiers are threatened with a specialised 'echelon', and that they are kept in the dark until they see the devastation for themselves - at which point the 'only thing we could really do was surrender'.In a filmed questioning by the Ukrainian Security Service, the POW also said his phone was taken away, so he couldn't read the news on the situation.He said: 'As we came in we realised the situation, that we're not going into a peacekeeping mission, but to fight.

'There were questions to commanders, sort of like "why the hell are we doing this", but to turn back and leave? We won't make it home. 

'Echelons in the back, they kill deserters...it seems, with people I've spoken to, we're all military, they told them the same thing.

'There really is a squad that kills people who try to run home.'

Adding that he probably won't be able to return, the soldier claimed he and others were 'lied' to by the military.

A captured Russian soldier has claimed that Putin's military forces have a special squad set up for killing deserters who don't want to take part in the invasion of Ukraine

A captured Russian soldier has claimed that Putin's military forces have a special squad set up for killing deserters who don't want to take part in the invasion of Ukraine

Members of Pro-Russian separatists walk near a tank in front of a heavily damaged apartment in the pro-Russian separatists-controlled Donetsk, Ukraine yesterday

Members of Pro-Russian separatists walk near a tank in front of a heavily damaged apartment in the pro-Russian separatists-controlled Donetsk, Ukraine yesterday

He said: 'I understand...the trouble I got involved with at the place where I worked. I probably won't return. Well, not probably. I won't return to that place where I worked, in the army.

'They lied. They threw us a piece of meat. When people understood with their own heads...They took away our phones so we didn't see the news about the situation in Ukraine, what's happening. 

'They were telling us, at every populated point, that there were no peaceful dwellers there, for example. But they were there.'

The soldier also said that he was thrown into military action, and 'they weren't particularly concerned if we wanted to take part in this or not'.

A man walks through debris in the aftermath of an aerial bombing, as Russia's advance on the Ukrainian capital continues, in the village of Byshiv outside Kyiv

A man walks through debris in the aftermath of an aerial bombing, as Russia's advance on the Ukrainian capital continues, in the village of Byshiv outside Kyiv

He added: 'When we surrendered, by around 15 kilometres, we understood that the rockets which were flying, they weren't flying into some military thing, they were flying to a peaceful population. Normal, ordinary, populated places. 

'By the time we understood the situation, they didn't let us go back. They told us they'd kill us if we went back. The only thing we could really do, was surrender.'

It is the latest claim that senior Russian military commanders have threatened to kill deserters after a soldier from the 2nd Motor Rifle Division said they were afraid of death by firing squad is they returned home. 

The soldier, speaking at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday, said captured Russian soldiers 'are already considered dead'.  

'I was given the opportunity to call my parents and they told me that a funeral for me had already been arranged,' he said. 'If we are exchanged, then we will be shot by our own people.' 

Another captured Russian soldier described on Tuesday how he was shot at by his fellow troops when they tried to protect Ukrainian civilians. 

His comrade, a lieutenant, was killed by his own side when trying to save a woman in her 20s, and her mother, after Russian soldiers were given orders to fire on civilians on February 24 in Kharkiv.

The captured soldier claimed he was shot in the foot, and the lieutenant killed, when other troops realised the pair weren't shooting at the civilians. 

Eleven Russian soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces make a press statement on March 5 in Kyiv

Eleven Russian soldiers captured by Ukrainian forces make a press statement on March 5 in Kyiv

A captured Russian soldier tells a press conference that he started to question what he'd been told after seeing his favourite boxers Oleksandr Usyk and Vasyl Lomachenko signing up to fight

A captured Russian soldier tells a press conference that he started to question what he'd been told after seeing his favourite boxers Oleksandr Usyk and Vasyl Lomachenko signing up to fight

Ukrainian forces detain servicemen of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic who were captured during the morning attack on the town of Schast'ye on February 24

Ukrainian forces detain servicemen of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic who were captured during the morning attack on the town of Schast'ye on February 24Captured Russian soldiers speaking on March 2 said the invasion of Ukraine was in 'complete disarray', according to voice recordings obtained by a British intelligence company. 

The intercepted radio messages indicated that troops are refusing to obey central command orders to shell Ukrainian towns and are complaining about running out of supplies of food and fuel.

Parts of the Russian military still use analogue 'walkie talkie' two-way radios, making them more vulnerable to interception. 

The recordings are among around 24 hours of material obtained by intelligence firm ShadowBreak since the invasion of Ukraine began last week.

Other video recordings are said to show Russian soldiers retreating back into Russia after becoming frustrated.

It comes as Russia has made dire threats to the West that any military shipments to Ukraine will be seen as 'legitimate targets', prompting fears there could be an escalation of conflict that could suck in other countries.

Deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov warned the US 'that pumping weapons from a number of countries it orchestrates isn't just a dangerous move, it's an action that makes those convoys legitimate targets'.

The warnings came after Joe Biden personally intervened to stop a shipment of Polish MiG fighter jets to Kyiv, fearing the move could lead to 'World War Three'. 

A Russian army tank move on the outskirts of Mariupol, Ukraine, pictured yesterday as the invasion continues

A Russian army tank move on the outskirts of Mariupol, Ukraine, pictured yesterday as the invasion continues

A crater created by the impact of an aerial bomb that destroyed a cultural center and an administration building in he village of Byshiv, outside Kyiv today

A crater created by the impact of an aerial bomb that destroyed a cultural center and an administration building in he village of Byshiv, outside Kyiv today 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has slammed the West for its inaction, saying today he 'doesn't see any bravery from NATO' as he pleaded for more involvement from allies in peace negotiations and offered to pay for more anti-missile systems. In response, the US made lukewarm promises of taking 'diplomatic steps' to help the Ukrainian government.

Zelensky, who claimed 1,300 Ukrainian troops have been killed so far and 500 Russians surrendered yesterday, also said Putin's forces can only take Kyiv if they 'raze the city to the ground', with Kremlin troops inching closer to the capital and conflict raging nearby today, endangering attempted evacuations. 

But there appear to be signs of slight progress in negotiations, with Zelensky saying the warring countries have begun discussing 'concrete' proposals rather than just 'exchanging ultimatums', although he said any negotiations must begin with a ceasefire.

The conciliatory tone was not resonating in the Kremlin though, with Putin raging after a 75-minute call with Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz that Ukraine was guilty of 'extrajudicial reprisals against dissidents, taking civilians hostage, using them as human shields, [and] putting heavy armaments in civilian areas near hospitals, schools, kindergartens'.

Scholz and Macron implored Putin to end the war and stop the brutal siege of Mariupol but a French official said he did not show any willingness for calling off his inhumane invasion.

Russian armoured vehicles are still slowly advancing on Kyiv's northeast after being stalled for days, and a military airfield south of the city in Vasylkiv has been hit by missiles, destroying the runway, a fuel depot and an ammunition store.

Smoke billows from burning containers after shelling in Vasylkiv, south west of Kyiv, Ukraine today

Smoke billows from burning containers after shelling in Vasylkiv, south west of Kyiv, Ukraine today

Prisoner claims Putin 'does not trust' his own army
Loaded: 0%
Progress: 0%
0:00
Previous
Play
Skip
Mute
Current Time0:00
/
Duration Time2:08
Fullscreen
Need Text

No comments:

Powered by Blogger.