Rome, 7 April 2022 – It is the 43rd day of war in Ukraine. And, as horrors emerge and the atrocities of the conflict from Bucha to Mariupol and KharkivPresident Volodymyr Zelensky returns to ask for a harsher intervention from the West. The new package of sanctions on Russia “it seems effective, but it’s not enough,” he says in his usual evening video message. But not only that: the Ukrainian leader looks at his devastated country and cannot help but think about the future, which to be possible must inevitably pass through an economic recovery: “We must do everything possible to restore the work of local companies, commercial activities and re-establish small and medium-sized enterprises in our territory where it is safe and possible to work “. Zelensky keeps his finger pointed at Moscow which, he insists, “doesn’t want anything to be seen before they take control of the city, before they clean it up.” The reference is to the city of Mariupol, besieged for over a month, which “is hell at the moment”. “They will not be able to hide thousands of people. The world has seen the real situation. What has been done to Ukraine has been seen,” she adds.
E today the UN General Assembly votes on the suspension of Russia from the Human Rights Council.
Mariupol and the fighting
The city of Mariupol is 90% destroyed and, according to its mayor Vadim Boychenko, 40% of the urban territory “is no longer rebuildable”. Meanwhile, heavy fighting continues in the east of the country and Kiev invites residents of the regions of Lugansk, Donetsk and Kharkiv to evacuate, while reporting the disappearance of over 400 people from Gostomel. In this town on the outskirts of Kiev, under the occupation of Russian forces for 35 days, a week-long curfew has started this morning, until 6 am (local time) on April 14, a “necessary measure” to mine the city and allow civilians to return safely, Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenkonel said in a tweet.