Natalia Zinets, Pavel Polityuk

KYIV, Reuters – Russia’s assault on Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol continued days after Moscow claimed victory in the south and stated that its forces didn’t need to capture the steelworks.

Volodymyr Zeleskiy, the Ukrainian president, said that his country was not prepared to resist the attack on the port.

However, he stated that the top American diplomat Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin (the U.S. Defense Secretary) would be visiting Kyiv this Sunday to talk about what types of weapons Ukraine will need as Russia’s invasion enters its third-month.

Zelenskiy stated that as soon as they have more weapons, as soon as enough, “we will immediately retake the territory which has been temporarily occupied,” he said at a Saturday night news conference.

Blinken’s and Austin’s travel plans have not yet been confirmed by The White House. Pentagon and the State Department did not respond to requests for comment.

Since weeks the war on Mariupol, which is considered the most important conflict battle, has been raging. Russia sees the capture as essential to its attempts to link Crimea with the eastern Donbas, the Black Sea peninsula Moscow captured in 2014.

Moscow-backed separatists held the Donbas region since years.

According to Ukraine, tens-of-thousands of civilians were killed at Mariupol. According to the Red Cross and the United Nations, the civilian death rate is in the low thousands.

An aide to Mariupol’s mayor stated that a second attempt was made to evacuate civilians but failed.

Zelenskiy stated that at least eight persons were killed in Odesa’s Black Sea port. The Ukrainian armed forces reported that two missiles hit a military building and two other residential buildings were also destroyed.

This could not independently be verified. It was early April that Odesa saw its last significant strike.

Before dawn Sunday on Sunday, sirens were heard at Odesa, Mykolaiv (a city close to the Black Sea), but no reports were made of any new attacks.

‘MISSILE TERROR’

Zelenskiy stated that Russia has already used most of its missile weapons against Ukraine. Zelenskiy stated that Russia still has missiles. He said that they could continue to terrorize our country with missiles.”

They have done enough to make the case for Russia being a state sponsor and terrorist country.

Russia denies targeting civilians during its special military operation that started on February 24.

Russian defence ministry claimed it used high-precision rockets to eliminate a Odesa logistic terminal containing weapons provided by European and American nations.

The Russian military also claimed that they had destroyed over 30 Ukrainian vehicles and killed 200 Ukrainian soldiers on Saturday.

Russian General Rustam Minnkayev stated Friday that Moscow wants control over the entire of south Ukraine. Comments Ukraine claimed suggested Russia has other goals than the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. Kyiv, the West considers the invasion an inexcusable war of aggression.

Russia’s defense ministry said Friday that Mariupol’s final fighters were “securely blocked” at the steel mill. The city was declared “liberated” by President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. He also stated that no troops were going to storm Azovstal.

Zelenskiy’s political adviser Oleksiy Istovych stated that Ukrainian soldiers in the complex steel were holding on and trying counterattacks. Ukrainian authorities claim that more than 1,000 civilians live at the facility.

“I WANT THE SUN”

A militia known for its defense of Mariupol released a video showing children and women sheltering within the Azov complex. Reuters couldn’t independently confirm the date or location of the video.

A woman was holding her young child and said that food was scarce. Meanwhile, a boy told his mother that he wanted to escape after spending two months in the bunker.

“I would like to see the sun, but it is dim in my house. We can all live peacefully when our homes are built. He said, “Let Ukraine win. Ukraine is our home.”

Russia is currently focusing its offensive on Donbas. This includes Donetsk, Luhansk, and other regions.

Serhiy Gaidai of Luhansk stated that Ukrainian forces had begun to withdraw in an effort to save their units from the increasing bombardment on all the cities throughout the region.

Ukrainian troops fighting in Luhansk/Donetsk stated in a Facebook post (NASDAQ:) that they had repelled 12 Russian attacks Saturday. They destroyed four tanks, 16 other armored vehicles and five artillery system.

Reuters couldn’t independently verify this statement.

The governor stated that three people died and seven were injured by Russian bombings in Kharkiv’s Eastern Region on Saturday.