UK's Johnson vows 120 additional armored vehicles after walking the streets of Kyiv: LIVE UPDATES
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv Saturday, before announcing additional military assistance. The aid included 120 additional armored vehicles and new missile systems.
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U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were widely praised on social media for their show of solidarity in the face of Russian aggression.
A video of Johnson, shared by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense shows him and Zelenskyy defiantly walking down the streets of Kyiv, speaking with locals.
"This is what democracy looks," tweeted the Defense Ministry. "This is what courage looks like. This what true friendship between peoples and between nations looks like."
In another Twitter post, Johnson hailed Ukrainians for having "the courage of a lion."
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Chechnya leader Ramzan Kadyrov said Monday morning that he believed Russia's military forces would launch an overwhelming offensive effort to take several Ukrainian cities, according to a report.
The potential attack would include efforts to take Mariupol, Kyiv and Donetsk, the official said, Reuters reported.
"There will be an offensive," Kadyrov said on Telegram, "not only on Mariupol, but also on other places, cities and villages."
"Luhansk and Donetsk - we will fully liberate in the first place ... and then take Kyiv and all other cities," he added via the report.
The report comes as at least 227 civilians were reported dead in Donetsk, with another 748 civilians that were wounded.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" on Sunday that his country is not willing to give up any territory to appease Russia.
In response to a question from host Scott Pelley about what his country would be willing to give up to stop the hostilities, Zelenskyy said, "Overall, we're not ready to give away our country. I think we've already given up a lot of lives. So we need to stand firm for as long as we can. But this is life. Different things happen."
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National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday that President Biden has no plans to visit Ukraine, despite a recent visit to the country from U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
"It was quite the symbol to see Prime Minister Boris Johnson walking the streets of Kyiv with President Zelenskyy," NBC host Chuck Todd told Sullivan. "It raises the question: are we going see President Biden in Kyiv?"
"President Biden doesn't currently have any plans to travel to Kyiv," Sullivan replied. "But I will tell you he sits in the Oval Office and in the Situation Room on a daily basis, organizing and coordinating the world when it comes to the delivery of weapons."
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Ukrainian Parliament member Kira Rudik invited President Biden to make the "bold move" and walk the streets of Kyiv like British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Rudik told "Fox News Live" on Sunday that the move would "really be a sign of solidarity."On Saturday, Johnson attended a surprise meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
Johnson's office said the meeting was a "show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people." The meeting came a day after Johnson pledged another $130 million in high-grade military equipment to Ukraine.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reported appointment of a new general known as the "Butcher of Syria" to oversee the invasion of Ukraine is a choice that shows the Biden administration exactly what to expect as Moscow’s bloody aggression continues, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Sunday.
Gen. Alexander Dvornikov, commander of Russia’s southern military district (SMD), was reported to be Putin’s pick as the new commander to lead operations in Ukraine. U.S. officials have said the 60-year-old general has a record of brutality against civilians in Syria and other theaters of war.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who recently offered Ukraine a fast-track toward European Union membership, asserted Sunday that "an important step forward" was taken to ensure to Ukrainian soldiers risking their lives that their children will one day live in a Ukraine free of Russian rule.
Her remarks on CNN "State of the Union" Sunday came after von der Leyen recently visited Kyiv. The EU chief presented Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a questionnaire, the responses to which will form the basis of an opinion to be passed on to the European Council this summer.
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In yet another heartbreaking development in Russia's war on Ukraine, a Ukrainian girl's apparent journal note to her deceased mother is circulating on Twitter.
The Ukrainian mother was presumably killed in shelling by the Russians.
A translation of the girl's words shares an emotional message to the dead mother, as found in the purported journal or calendar entry. The child wrote, in part, according to the tweet: "Mom, This letter is a present for you."
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Media and military experts said Sunday that six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed at Belgrade’s civilian airport early Saturday, reportedly carrying HQ-22 surface-to-air missile systems for the Serbian military.
The Chinese cargo planes with military markings were pictured at Belgrade’s Nikola Tesla airport. Serbia’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment.
The arms delivery over the territory of at least two NATO member states, Turkey and Bulgaria, was seen by experts as a demonstration of China’s growing global reach.
“The Y-20s’ appearance raised eyebrows because they flew en masse as opposed to a series of single-aircraft flights,” wrote The Warzone online magazine. “The Y-20′s presence in Europe in any numbers is also still a fairly new development.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Russian President Vladimir Putin might get the opposite of what he’s bargained for, as NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg recently suggested plans of a permanent presence of allied troops on the eastern flank in response to the invasion of Ukraine, which has dragged on for 46 days as of Sunday.
"What we see now is a new reality, a new normal for European security. Therefore, we have now asked our military commanders to provide options for what we call a reset, a more longer-term adaptation of NATO," Stoltenberg is quoted as saying in a recent interview with The Telegraph. "I expect that NATO leaders will make decisions on this when they meet in Madrid at the NATO summit in June."
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The Finnish government is poised to formally apply for NATO membership "before midsummer" and potentially as early as May.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin stated Friday that the country would vote "before midsummer" on sending an application to join NATO. Former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb says the vote will likely happen as early as May, according to Agence France-Presse.
"We will have very careful discussions but not taking any more time than we have to," Marin said during a press conference. "I think we will end the discussion before midsummer."
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Russia has started to recruit from discharged personnel in an effort to bolster its forces following significant losses, the British Ministry of Defense reported.
Recruitment will look for any service members discharged since 2012, and Russia will also look to the unrecognized region of Transnistria in Moldova for additional support.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday claimed as many as 19,300 Russian troops have died since the start of the invasion.
Emergency workers remove the body of a resident of a multi-storey building destroyed in a Russian attack, at the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war in Borodyanka, close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Maria Vaselenko, a 77-year-old Borodianka resident, told the Associated Press the bodies of her daughter and son-in-law were discovered under rubble after 36 days, a delay imposed by Russian soldiers who allegedly did not allow residents to search for their loved ones.
In some cases, the soldiers even shot at Ukrainian civilians who attempted to search destroyed areas, she said.
“The Russians were shooting. And some people wanted to come and help, but they were shooting them,” she told The Associated Press. “They were putting explosives under dead people.”
The report comes as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Ukraine for the first time since the start of Russia's invasion, where he traveled the streets of Kyiv to see the destruction first-hand.
In his remarks, Johnson said he was so moved that he would "ratchet up the economic pressure" on Russia and would provide such assistance to Ukraine so that it's civilians would not see war again.
The Ukrainian government reports 176 children have been killed and more than 336 have been injured during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The report included at least one incident of Russian troops allegedly robbing and fatally shooting a 14-year-old boy and his brother in Chernihiv.
European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen, right, and Poland's President Andrzej Duda ,center, watching Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on a screen at the main event of the "Stand Up for Ukraine" global campaign for pledging funds for Ukraine and its refugees, at the Palace on the Water, in Warsaw, Poland, on Saturday, April 9, 2022. Launched by the European Commission and Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the event was joined remotely by Trudeau and by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during his nightly address that his country's goal in the war with Russia is peace "as soon as possible."
"The task of our anti-war coalition is quite clear - to end this war started by Russia as soon as possible," he said Saturday evening. "To liberate our land from invaders. And to guarantee the security of Ukraine and, consequently, the security of democracy and freedom of the nations of Eastern Europe."
Zelenskyy also warned the rest of Europe that Russia's target was "the whole European project."
"The catastrophe that will inevitably hit everyone," he added. "Because Russian aggression was not intended to be limited to Ukraine alone. To the destruction of our freedom and our lives alone. The whole European project is a target for Russia."
Going forward, Zelenskyy said "more sanctions are needed. Even more weapons for our state are needed."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 9, 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he's committed to pressing for peace despite Russian attacks on civilians that have stunned the world. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
In a nightly address Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pointed to Russia's "self-confidence" and said they intend to invade all of Europe.
“Russian aggression was not intended to be limited to Ukraine alone," Zelenskyy said, adding the "entire European project is a target for Russia.”
“Freedom does not have time to wait,” Zelenskyy continued. "When tyranny begins its aggression against everything that keeps the peace in Europe, action must be taken immediately."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was joined in Kyiv by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who vowed additional military assistance in their war with Russia.
The additional 120 armored vehicles and new missile systems, however, is not enough, the Ukrainian president said.
“Of course it’s not enough. Because Russian aggression was not intended to be limited to Ukraine alone," Zelenskyy added. "The entire European project is a target for Russia.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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