Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that a remark made by President Joe Biden over the weekend about Vladimir Putin, in which Biden said “for God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power,” is a “statement that is certainly alarming,” Reuters reports.
“We will continue to track the statements of the U.S. president in the most attentive way,” Peskov said.
Mariupol mayor: 160,000 people remain here as Russian military preventing evacuations
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko wrote on Telegram Monday that around 160,000 people remain in the besieged Ukrainian port city.
Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne quoted him as saying that Russian forces were preventing civilians from evacuating Mariupol and had been turning back some who tried to make it out.
The city, which had a pre-war population of more than 400,000, has seen some of the worst conditions since Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Feb.24.
Russian forces have pounded Mariupol and scores of civilians have been unable to escape, with no access to essentials and cut off from communication with the shelling of cell, radio and TV towers.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Slovenia reopens its embassy in Ukraine as diplomat reports alarms, detonations
NATO member Slovenia has reopened its embassy in Kyiv on Monday after reinstating a diplomat there, according to the Associated Press.
Slovenia’s move comes after Prime Minister Janez Jansa urged European Union countries to restore their presence in Kyiv in support for Ukraine. Jansa visited Kyiv this month along with the prime ministers of Poland and the Czech Republic.
He said on Twitter on Monday that “we are back,” adding that “the Slovenian and European flags flutter again in front of the Slovenian Embassy in Kyiv.”
Slovenia’s Foreign Ministry quoted interim charge d’affaires Bostjan Lesjak as saying upon arrival that the city was deserted, and that alarms and detonations could be heard in the distance.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Russia touts aid for Ukrainian cities after weeks of bombing citizens
Russia’s defense ministry last week boasted of providing aid to Ukrainian cities it has spent weeks bombarding with missiles.
The U.S. government, in coordination with its European allies, declared Wednesday that Russian forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine by purposefully targeting buildings known to be sheltering civilians.
Russia has pummeled the southeastern city of Mariupol, hitting not only military targets but apartment buildings, children’s and maternity hospitals and a theater marked with the word “children” in large white letters that could be read from the sky.
But on Thursday Russia’s defense ministry took to Telegram to tout the humanitarian support that its troops were purportedly supplying civilians in the southeastern city.
“Servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces delivered a batch of humanitarian aid to Mariupol,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said. “In a central district of Mariupol, local residents received around 1,000 food kits. Russian and DPR servicemen ensured the safety of the residents who came to the humanitarian aid distribution point.”
For more on this story: Russia touts aid for Ukrainian cities after weeks of bombing citizens
Ukraine to investigate alleged videos of Russian prisoners being shot: report
Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych says his country is investigating graphic videos posted to social media purportedly showing Ukrainian soldiers shooting Russian prisoners in the legs.
“The government is taking this very seriously, and there will be an immediate investigation,” Arestovych said Sunday, according to reports. “We are a European army, and we do not mock our prisoners. If this turns out to be real, this is absolutely unacceptable behavior.”
“I would like to remind all our military, civilian and defense forces once again that the abuse of prisoners is a war crime that has no amnesty under military law and has no statute of limitations,” Arestovych reportedly added.
However, Ukraine’s military commander in chief is accusing Russia of “staging” the videos, according to the Washington Examiner.
Exiled Russian journalist details dangers of Putin’s assault on Ukraine: There is no ‘real strategy’
An exiled Russian journalist is speaking out on the dangers of Vladimir Putin, warning there is no real strategy for his assault on Ukraine as millions flee to evade Russian attacks.
Exiled Russian journalist Regina Revazova joined “Fox & Friends First” to discuss how Putin has laid the groundwork for the war in Ukraine for years.
“Vladimir Putin is, right now, in a trap,” Revazova told co-hosts Carley Shimkus and Todd Piro. “He is in a trap that he’s been carefully building to stay in power since early 2000s when he first went after media, when he… went after business people, business world of Russia; and then the last part was his opposition within the country.”
“I don’t think that, now, there is any real strategy there; [they are] just destroying as much as they can,” she continued.
For more on this story: Exiled Russian journalist details dangers of Putin’s assault on Ukraine: There is no ‘real strategy’
Putin’s threats of nuclear war spark rise in private bunker sales
‘Fox & Friends First’ reports on an uptick in private bunker sales amid Vladimir Putin’s threats of nuclear warfare.
China: Sanctions against Russia are causing ‘unnecessary damage’ to trade
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Monday that international sanctions placed on Russia for its ongoing invasion of Ukraine have been negatively impacting trade between Beijing and Moscow.
“The current issue is not any country wanting to help Russia circumvent the sanctions, but rather there has been unnecessary damage to the normal trade exchange with Russia, including between China and Russia,” Wang said, according to Bloomberg.
“We urge the U.S. to seriously treat China’s concerns while handing the Ukraine issue and relations with Russia and refrain from harming China’s legitimate rights and interests,” he reportedly added.
Kremlin: Ukraine-Russia negotiations in Turkey could start tomorrow
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Monday that talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Turkey may start tomorrow.
Ukraine and Turkish officials initially said the talks could begin Monday, but Peskov said the officials are just arriving in Turkey today, according to Reuters.
“While we cannot and will not speak about progress at the talks, the fact that they continuing to take place in person is important, of course,” he reportedly added.
Separately, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested that now is not the time for Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to have an in-person meeting.
“A meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy is needed as soon as we will be close to resolving all key issues,” Lavrov said, according to Reuters.
Russia’s military suffering from ‘continued lack of momentum and morale,’ UK says
Russian troops in Ukraine on Monday are grappling with a “continued lack of momentum and morale” as they try to push back against aggressive fighting by the Ukrainians,” the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence says.
“In the last 24 hours there has been no significant change to Russian Forces dispositions in occupied Ukraine,” the agency said in a tweet.
However, “Russia has gained most ground in the south in the vicinity of Mariupol where heavy fighting continues as Russia attempts to capture the port,” it added.
Zelenskyy says Ukraine is looking to end the war ‘without delay’: report
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he could declare neutrality and offer security guarantees to Russia to secure peace “without delay,” the Associated Press reported.
He added, though, only a face-to-face meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin could end the war.
Holocaust survivor recalls horrors from Nazi Germany amid current Ukraine War
Tatyana Zhuravliova, an 83-year-old Ukrainian Jew, said when bombs fell around her in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, she said she felt the same panic she as when Nazis bombed her hometown of Odesa.
“My whole body was shaking, and those fears crept up again through my entire body — fears which I didn’t even know were still hidden inside me,” Zhuravliova told the Associated Press.
“Now I’m too old to run to the bunker. So I just stayed inside my apartment and prayed that the bombs would not kill me,” she added.
Russia’s military losses as of March 28: report
Ukrainian welders turn donated vehicles into useable transports for the war
Workers at a welding shop in Ukraine’s western city of Lviv are adding steel plates to a donated pickup truck to be used in the war.
“Our victory depends on us,” said Ostap Datsenko, a welder who joined the resistance, the Associated Press reported.
“I’m doing what I can,” he added.
Outgunned Ukrainians lure Russian aircraft into defense traps: Experts
The U.S. can best support Ukraine by providing it with weapons, planes and parts to defend its airspace rather than establish a no-fly zone, a U.S. Air Force expert told Fox News Digital.
“[The Ukrainians] are fighting with basically two very large feathers in their cap: one is the munitions we’re providing them and the other is the morale that they can sustain on their own,” said John (JV) Venable, a veteran Air Force commander and senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.
Yuriy Ihnat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, described the country’s strategy as luring Russian planes into air defense traps.
“Ukraine has been effective in the sky because we operate on our own land,” he said. “The enemy flying into our airspace is flying into the zone of our air defense systems.”
Read more here: Outgunned Ukrainians lure Russian aircraft into defense traps, need planes to defend airspace: Expert
Zelenskyy sets ground rules for peace agreement, Russia censors him
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy revealed some of his country’s ground rules for a peace agreement with Russia on Sunday, but Russian authorities moved to censor the interview, perhaps because Zelenskyy also said that while Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the invasion aims to “denazify” Ukraine, peace talks with Russia have not involved any discussion on Ukraine’s supposed “Nazism.”
Zelenskyy spoke with Russian media outlets, saying that his country is open to guaranteeing Ukraine’s neutrality and its nuclear-free status, but its representatives will not sign any agreement until Russian troops withdraw from the country.
The Ukrainian president also said that the entire process hinges on him personally meeting with Putin and the Ukrainian people agreeing to a referendum to change the Constitution – a referendum that cannot take place while Russian troops remain in Ukraine.
For more on this story: Zelenskyy sets ground rules for peace agreement, Russia censors him
Russia’s siege of Mariupol has caused ‘catastrophic’ damage: Ukrainian Foreign Ministry says
Russia censors Zelenskyy’s peace game plan
Zelenskyy laid out his plans for peace in an interview with Russian news outlets Sunday, saying that he would agree to keeping Ukraine neutral toward Russia (out of NATO) and to secure its non-nuclear status. Yet a Russian regulator censored the interview, preventing news outlets from publishing it.
Read more here.
Russia plans to split up Ukraine, Kyiv says
Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukrainian military intelligence, accused Russia of seeking to split Ukraine in two, making the comparison to North and South Korea, which split during the Korean War.
“The occupiers will try to pull the occupied territories into a single quasi-state structure and pit it against independent Ukraine,” Budanov said in a statement released by the Defense Ministry. He predicted that guerrilla warfare by Ukrainians would derail such plans.
Biden claims he wasn’t calling for regime change in Russia.
After U.S. President Joe Biden in Poland Saturday said that Russian President Putin “cannot remain in power,” the White House clarified that the U.S. is not seeking regime change in Russia.
“Mr. President, were you calling for regime change?” a reporter asked in a shouted question, with Biden flatly responding “no.”
Click here for Sunday’s live coverage.