“But what peace?”. The rhetorical question comes from the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky after the new Russian raids that have targeted his country in the aftermath of the meeting in the Kremlin between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping in which the tsar praised the Chinese peace plan. On Twitter, the Kiev leader posted images of an explosion that gutted a building in the city of Zaporizhzhia: an attack in broad daylight that left at least one victim and 34 injured, including two children aged seven and nine. During the night eight other people were killed in a raid in the Kiev region, in Rzhyschiv, which hit a student residence. The Ukrainians said they had shot down 16 drones but five escaped their sights and brought death and destruction to another day of war, “not just another day”, as Zelensky wrote again, railing against the “bestial ferocity” of the Russian attacks. “More than 20 killer Iranian drones, plus missiles and numerous bombings. And that alone in the last night of Russian terror against Ukraine. Every time someone tries to hear the word ‘peace’ in Moscow, another is given there order for these criminal raids,” he denounced. During the day, the Ukrainian president appeared at the front, near Bakhmut, where he presented awards to the soldiers who for weeks have been defending what Kiev has decided to be his ‘fortress’: the strongest symbol of resistance determined not to cede even a single centimeter of land but also a choice that has raised many doubts among observers and allies, given the extent of the losses and the not exactly strategic value of the eastern city which before this phase of the conflict had 70,000 inhabitants. Now there are fewer than 4,000 left, surrounded by ash and rubble, as artillery shells echo.
Zelensky: ‘Zaporizhzhia bombed with bestial ferocity’
Zelensky met the troops in what appears to be an old industrial warehouse: a minute’s silence for the fallen, the delivery of medals, photos on social channels. “I am honored to be here today, in the east of our country, in Donbass, and to award our heroes, thank you, shake your hand. Thank you for protecting the state, sovereignty, the east of Ukraine,” he said. Accompanying him was his chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, who tweeted: “Bakhmut stands, defense forces hold city.” Zelensky saw the military leaders in Donbass and then moved to Kharkiv, another city torn apart under the constant blows of the Russians, to deliver an acknowledgment to its mayor, Igor Terekhov. Moscow, on the other hand, has returned to pointing the finger at the United States: the United States “plays with fire” by continuing its hostile actions against Russia, “not only in Ukraine”, deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov thundered, again waving his specter of a nuclear conflict as a probability today “higher than ever seen in recent decades”. He was echoed by Foreign Minister Serghei Lavrov, who accused the United Kingdom of the announced supply of depleted uranium shells which “will cause a further escalation of tensions”. On the ground, tension remains very high in Zaporizhizha, near which there is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, now under Russian control: the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi has sounded the alarm about the possible disconnection of the plant from the external power line, while the last 330 kilovolt reserve line, damaged since March 1, remains disconnected and under repair, “highlighting once again the fragility of nuclear safety”.
Kishida to Bucha: ‘I am outraged by the brutality that took place here’
Faced with a destroyed country, the World Bank is starting to calculate the costs of reconstruction, for which it estimates that 411 billion dollars will be needed. The United Nations, the European Union and the Ukrainian government also agree on the figure. And an immediate need of 14 billion dollars is expected this year in favor of “crucial and priority investments” to start the work: yesterday the staff of the International Monetary Fund reached an agreement with Kiev for an aid plan of 15, 6 billion dollars. The agreement must now be approved by the IMF board, which should examine it in the coming weeks.
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