Difficult evacuations
Zelenskyi promises to rebuild all houses
03/17/2022, 04:12 am
In his nightly video message, Ukrainian President Zelenskyi reports on the air raid on a theater in Mariupol, in which “hundreds” of people had sought shelter. The humanitarian corridors have also come under fire again and again, he laments. He promises the Ukrainians to rebuild all the destroyed houses.
The Ukrainian government has promised all citizens to rebuild their homes and apartments destroyed in the war with Russia. Reconstruction programs are already in the works, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a statement published last night video messagethe can be read here in English. Whatever the damage, Zelenskyy said he was confident in the country’s ability to quickly restore everything. Reconstruction will inspire the world, just like Ukraine’s struggle for freedom.
The agreed humanitarian corridors did not work on Wednesday, Zelenskyy said. The Russian troops would not have stopped the shelling. The Ukrainian side is ready to evacuate, but cannot expose people to shelling on the street. Residents of Mariupol who, despite everything, managed to get to the city of Berdyansk, more than 70 kilometers to the west, are being taken on to Zaporizhia. According to Zelenskyy, more than 6,000 residents of Mariupol, including 2,000 children, have been transported within 24 hours. But there was also shelling in the Zaporizhia region further down the road. The information could not be independently verified. The governments in Kyiv and Moscow repeatedly blame each other for failed evacuation attempts and ceasefires that were not observed. In Mariupol, several evacuation attempts had failed until around 20,000 people were finally able to leave the city on Tuesday.
Probably 1000 people in the destroyed theater
Zelenskyy also mentions the evening air raid on the Mariupol theater. “Hundreds” had sought refuge there from the bombing, the number of fatalities is still unknown. During the night, the Mariupol city government reported that there were 1,000 people in the building. Here, too, there was no information about injuries or deaths.
Zelenskyy said that negotiations with Russia were ongoing. His priorities are clear: “An end to the war, security guarantees, sovereignty and the restoration of territorial integrity.” He again called on the West to enforce a no-fly zone and a new sanctions package against Russia, as the Russian economy was still able to keep its war machine running. He also again called for air defense systems, aircraft, deadly weapons and ammunition for the Ukrainian armed forces.