Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian army is preparing a new attack on the region and city of Kharkiv.
“Now the Russian army is trying to gather forces to attack Kharkiv again. We de-occupied this region. And they want to do it again, and we see it,” Zelenskyy said in a virtual speech at the opening of the ISPI Global Policy Forum in Italy.
On World Refugee Day, Zelesnkyy further said around 12 million Ukrainians are displaced, over five million of whom had to abandon the nation. After weeks of severe shelling, Russia withdrew from Kharkiv in mid-May.
“Russia has deliberately created such conditions. Mariupol – almost half a million inhabitants. Different cities. Severodonetsk – 100 thousand inhabitants. Volnovakha – 22 thousand inhabitants. So, it was. But Russia destroyed everything there. Artillery, aircraft, missiles - they did not spare tools,” Ukraine’s President said.
Zelenskyy said with a population of around 500,000 people, Mykolaiv is frequently bombarded. They plan to capture and entirely demolish Slovyansk, which had a population of 100,000 people before the conflict.
Picture Credits: AP
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