After ten days of fighting in Mariupol in southern Ukraine, the situation is catastrophic. The United States and Poland are negotiating the possibility of making Polish fighter jets available to Ukraine. Zelenskyi spoke with Biden, Congress and Elon Musk on Saturday. Visa and Mastercard are stalling their operations in Russia.
We compiled for this story the four most important events of the previous evening and last night in connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
1. Catastrophic situation in Mariupol
The port city of Mariupol was bombed by Russian troops late Saturday night, the mayor of the city Vadym Boytshenko said.
– The relentless bombing of residential blocks is ongoing, planes have dropped bombs on residential areas, the mayor said in the evening.
According to the mayor, thousands of children, women and the elderly came under fire earlier in the day as they arrived at the gathering places in an attempt to evacuate the city.
Russia had promised a ceasefire in the city to form humanitarian corridors.
Russian forces have besieged the port city of Mariupol with 430,000 inhabitants for six days. The city is strategically important as it would allow Russia to connect to the Crimean peninsula.
According to the Doctors Without Borders, the humanitarian situation in Mariupol in southern Ukraine is catastrophic.
– The establishment of a humanitarian corridor as soon as possible is essential for the removal of the civilian population, women and children, from the city. The situation is catastrophic and deteriorating day by day, the coordinator of the organization in Ukraine Laurent Ligozat says.
According to Ligozat, there is no more water, electricity or heating in the city and food is running out. Stores are empty.
The small town of Borodyanka, northwest of Kiev, is also almost completely destroyed, Oleksiy Kuleba told US news channel CNN.
2. France Télécom: The United States and Poland are negotiating possible fighter jets for Ukraine
The United States and Poland are negotiating the possibility of making Polish fighter jets available to Ukraine, according to the British newspaper Financial Times (FT).
According to France Télécom, the agreement would allow Ukraine to use Russian-made fighter jets from Poland, and the United States would provide Poland with F-16 fighter jets in return.
Russia is expected to increase its air strikes on Ukraine, as ground forces have been slow.
According to the newspaper, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi had previously appealed to the United States
3. Zelenskyi talked to the United States
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the President of the United States Joe Biden talked early Sunday morning over the phone.
The presidents discussed security issues, financial support for Ukraine and the continuation of sanctions against Russia. According to the White House, the call took about half an hour.
– As part of the ongoing dialogue, I spoke again with the President of the United States, Zelenskyi said on Twitter.
A few hours earlier, Zelenskyi was in video contact with about 300 U.S. congressmen in the United States. He appealed that the United States would hand over F-16 fighter jets to Poland and other Eastern European allies.
These countries, in turn, could deliver Russian-made fighter jets to Ukraine because Ukrainian pilots are trained on Russian planes.
In addition, Zelenskyi said he discussed the billionaire Elon Muskin who had promised to send more new Starlink systems to Ukraine to help with the Internet connections in the destroyed cities.
4. Visa and Mastercard suspend operations in Russia
Credit companies Visa and Mastercard will suspend operations in Russia. Cards issued by either company in Russia cannot be used to pay outside the country, and Visa or Mastercard cards issued outside Russia cannot be used to pay in Russia.
However, according to Russian banks, payment cards still operate within the country’s borders, as all payments are made through the national system and the operation of the cards is not tied to operations abroad.