Even today, Russian missiles have targeted civilian targets, first killing according to Kiev 10 people queuing to buy bread in Chernihiv, near the Belarusian border, then intensifying the bombings on southern cities, from Mariupol to Odessa, along the belt that connects the areas already under the control of Moscow in Donbass and Crimea. In the evening, new bombs fell on Kiev under curfew, hitting several houses ( HERE the chronicle of the 21st day of the war).
In the port city on the Azov Sea, where 350,000 residents are trapped without running water, food and medicine and more than 2,500 civilian victims reported by the administration, the raids hit a theater of dramatic art converted into a shelter for "hundreds of people ", including" many children ", according to Ukrainian sources. Bombs were also thrown on a swimming pool: under the rubble, according to the rescuers, there were pregnant women and children. Moscow denies the raids, like the latest in Chernihiv, instead accusing the Ukrainian ultra-nationalist militia of the Azov Battalion of destroying the building.
US President Joe Biden, for the first time, called Vladimir Putin "a war criminal", sparking the Kremlin's angry reaction: "Unacceptable and unforgivable words." While the International Criminal Court has opened an investigation into the alleged crimes of war, the International Court of Justice has asked Russia to "immediately suspend the military operation started on February 24, 2022 on the territory of Ukraine".
In Chernihiv, meanwhile, five other bodies were found under the rubble, three were children. While in Kharkiv, the second center of the country near the Russian border, among the first to come under siege, at least two residential buildings and a school were hit. Since the beginning of the invasion, the victims are at least 500. But the Ukrainian resistance is not giving up. In Kherson, on the Black Sea, occupied for days by Russian troops, a witness reported intense bombings all night against the airport, where Russian helicopters were located, in an apparent confirmation of the counter-offensive evoked by Kiev.
ZELENSKY AT THE US CONGRESS - Today was the day of the expected speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the US Congress, the first virtual speech by a leader in the history of Capitol Hill: "Remember Pearl Harbor, remember September 11. You were attacked from heaven. Our country has been living on September 11 for three weeks, "said the Ukrainian leader on Capitol Hill speaking to the hearts of Americans in what some analysts have called a" communication lesson ". "We need you now, we need a no fly zone over Ukraine or we need planes, you know they exist, there are", was the appeal of Zelensky who, after quoting Churchill and Shakespeare in his speech to parliament British, he turned to American MPs, borrowing the words of Martin Luther King.
"You say 'I have a dream', to you I can say 'I have a need', to protect our skies", he urged, asking the United States to "do more". Finally, he spoke directly to the American president: "Biden, being a world leader means being a peace leader", was Zelensky's strong message.
In the no-fly zone, the no remains unanimous, and NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg also confirmed it. And so, Biden "limited" himself to announcing the allocation of another 800 million dollars in military aid which, together with the 200 million made available last week, make a total of one billion dollars for supporting the security of Kiev. , an "unprecedented" figure, the president defined it.
(Unioneonline / D)