A cruise missile was fired by Russian forces on Saturday at Odesa in southern Ukraine, while it was bombarded at a besieged steel mill in Mariupol, as part of an attempt to gobble up the port in time to celebrate Victory Day. All women, children, and elderly residents of the mill have been evacuated, leaving the Ukrainian military trapped.
A Ukrainian counteroffensive also advanced around Kharkiv, the country's second biggest city, although it remains a target of heavy shelling from Russian forces.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that Zelenskyy and his people “embody the spirit of those who prevailed during the Second World War.” He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying “to twist history to attempt to justify his unprovoked and brutal war against Ukraine.”
“As war again rages in Europe, we must increase our resolve to resist those who now seek to manipulate historical memory in order to advance their own ambitions,” Blinken said in a statement as the United States and United Kingdom commemorated the Allied victory in Europe.
Thousands of people have died as a result of Europe's biggest conflict since World War II. Millions are displaced, and large parts of cities have been destroyed. On Monday, 77 years after Nazi Germany was defeated, Ukrainian leaders warned that attacks would worsen in the days and weeks leading up to Russia's holiday commemorating that victory, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued an air raid warning.
9 May 2022
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