President Vladimir Putin warned Saturday that Russia would consider any third-party declaration of a no-fly zone over Ukraine as participation in the war. Ukraine’s president has pleaded for a no-fly zone and lashed out at NATO for refusing to impose one.
Ukrainian officials said Russian artillery fire and airstrikes had prevented residents from leaving before the agreed-to evacuations got underway. Putin accused Ukraine accused Ukraine of sabotaging the effort.
“We value the life of every inhabitant of Mariupol and we cannot risk it, so we stopped the evacuation,” he said. Diplomatic efforts continued as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Poland to meet with the prime minister and foreign minister, a day after attending a NATO meeting in Brussels in which the alliance pledged to step up support for eastern flank members.
Zelenskyy said Saturday that that 10,000 Russian troops had died in the war, a claim that could not be independently verified. “We’re inflicting losses on the occupants they could not see in their worst nightmare,” the Ukrainian leader said. A vast Russian armored column threatening Ukraine’s capital remained stalled outside Kyiv. Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich said the military situation was more quiet overall Saturday and Russian forces “have not taken active actions since the morning.”
But as the United States and other NATO members send weapons for Kyiv, the conflict is already drawing in countries far beyond Ukraine’s borders.
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