UPDATED: Ukraine’s president says 1991 borders must be recognised – adviser
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LVIV, Ukraine, March 17 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s president has not altered his position that the international borders in place when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 must continue to be recognised, a presidential adviser said on Thursday.
Russia annexed the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 but the region is still regarded by the United Nations as part of Ukraine. Russia has also recognised declarations of independence by two self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine which rose up against Kyiv’s rule in 2014.
Those two areas and Crimea were part of Ukraine when it declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said repeatedly since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 that he will not compromise on his country’s “territorial integrity.”
“His main position has not changed,” Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Zelenskiy, said on national television. “We will never give up our national interests.”
Losses are mounting in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, with 53 people killed by Russian forces on Wednesday alone, the regional governor said on Thursday.
“We are suffering heavy losses – 53 citizens were killed yesterday,” Governor Viacheslav Chaus said.
The information could not immediately be verified. Russia denies targeting civilians.
Yaroslav (C), a member of the Ukrainian military, touches the closed coffin with the body of his father Roman, a fallen Ukrainian soldier killed in the Kyiv region during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at a cremation ceremony in a crematorium, in Kyiv, Ukraine. EPA-EFE/ROMAN PILIPEY
Ukraine hopes to evacuate civilians through nine “humanitarian corridors” on Thursday from cities including the encircled port city of Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.
Ukraine handed over nine captured Russian soldiers to secure the freedom of the mayor of the city of Melitopol, who was detained last week, the Interfax Ukraine news agency quoted a senior official as saying on Wednesday.
The office of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier said mayor Ivan Fedorov had been released but gave no details.
“Ivan Fedorov was released from Russian captivity … for him, Russia received nine captured soldiers who were born in 2002 and 2003. These are actually children,” Interfax Ukraine quoted Zelenskiy press aide Darya Zarivnaya as saying.
Ukraine had said Fedorov was kidnapped last Friday by Russian forces.
At least one person was killed and three wounded after remains of a downed missile hit a residential building in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Ukraine’s emergency service said on Thursday.
The 16-storey building was struck at 5:02 a.m. local time, it said in a statement, adding that 30 people have been evacuated so far and a fire has been put out.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has largely stalled on all fronts, with Russian forces suffering heavy losses and making minimal progress on land, sea or air in recent days, British military intelligence said on Thursday.
“Ukrainian resistance remains staunch and well-coordinated,” The Ministry of Defence said. “The vast majority of Ukrainian territory, including all major cities, remains in Ukrainian hands.”
