Russia mustering forces to surround city of Dnipro
A Ukrainian security official has said Russia is mustering its forces to surround the eastern city of Dnipro.
The official added that the Russian war command is turning its main attention to the southern front to cut Ukraine off from the Black Sea.
It comes after fighting and shelling escalated in key northern cities in recent days including Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Sumy as Russian troops attempt to close in on the capital of Kyiv.
Pope Francis says Ukraine conflict is ‘not a military operation but a war’
Pope Francis rejected Russia’s assertion that it is carrying out “a special military operation” in Ukraine on Sunday, saying the country was being battered by a war.
“In Ukraine rivers of blood and tears are flowing. This is not only a military operation but a war which is leading to death, destruction and misery,” he said in his weekly address to crowds gathered in St Peter’s Square.
Could key city of Odesa be next target for Putin?
In his TV address, President Zelenskyy warned Russia was “planning to bomb Odesa” – a southern port city that is key for Ukraine’s economy.
About 70% of the country’s maritime trade reportedly goes through the city and Dr Sidharth Kaushal, research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, told The Times: “Holding it would give Russia a chokehold on the Ukrainian economy.”
General Sir Richard Barrons, a former British military chief, compared Odesa to Dover in terms of its significance.
Russia’s southern attacks have seen it gain the smaller strategic port of Kherson. Mariupol, another southern city that has seen heavy fighting, is seen as crucial to linking up the Crimean peninsula with pro-Russian separatist areas in the east.
Zelenskyy makes plea to Russian people – ‘It’s not too late’
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been giving one of his video updates – this time making a plea to the Russian people.
He said it is “not too late” for Russian nationals to try to help stop this war.
“This is the time that we can overcome evil, when it’s not too late. You can only lose your job… don’t miss your opportunity.
“Russian nationals, this is a fight not just for peace in Ukraine, this is the fight for our freedom.
“If you stay silent now, then in the future only your poverty will speak on your behalf. Don’t be silent.”
He said Ukraine had captured members of the Russian military, and talked about the evidence they had provided.
“Hundreds of Russian soldiers and pilots who were dropping bombs on our cities, we heard their evidence, we saw documents, evidence such as maps.
“This is not some improvised war, it is a deliberate, determined intention. They planned this war.”
He stressed the Geneva Convention was being followed with these prisoners of war.
In a rallying cry, he said: “We are fighting for our today, we are fighting for our border, we are fighting for our freedom – to not become slaves.”
Would Putin have taken the same action if Donald Trump was in power?
Kurt Volker, former US ambassador to NATO, is asked by Trevor Phillips on Sunday if Vladimir Putin would have “dared to be so audacious, so brutal, so aggressive” in his invasion of Ukraine if Donald Trump was in the White House.
Mr Volker says it is “hard to know” but there was an element of President Trump that was “highly unpredictable and I think Putin was not sure what Trump would do”.
“I also think that he believed that Trump was comfortable using force. Look at the way we took out the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.”
Mr Volker says before the invasion, Mr Putin’s intentions had become “increasingly clear”.
He said: “I wasn’t sure whether he would be trying to take over the whole country and depose the government or just take parts of eastern Ukraine.
“Sadly, it is now very clear that he wants to kill Zelenskyy, decapitate the government and control the entire country.”
Mr Volker adds that in his actions, Putin has “given himself no way out”.
“He launched his military operation on the thought that it might last two or three days. It would be fairly easy. They would take over Ukraine. Obviously not true.
“Russian forces are bogged down in many places. They’ve suffered a lot of casualties, a lot of equipment losses. And now these sanctions have kicked in that are truly significant against the Russian economy.”
