Fifth day of conflict in Ukraine: cities on high alert

The Russian troops failed to occupy Kyiv, as Ukrainian officials stated that fights on Sunday were "difficult" due to heavy shelling.

Kharkiv and Chernihiv cities were also attacked last night, but not yet conquered. On the other hand, the port town of Berdyansk was taken over by Russia’s military forces.

In this context, negotiations with Kremlin are set to take place at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, on the Pripyat River. Both official delegations will meet on Monday after-noon. However, President Zelensky declared that he does not think that the meeting will have a positive outcome for Ukraine and negotiations will most probably fail.

“I will say frankly, as always: I do not really believe in the outcome of this meeting, but let them try. So that no citizen of Ukraine would have any doubt that I, as a president, did not try to stop the war, when there was even a small, but still a chance ", he commented.

The meetings will take place in an extremely tense context, as Russia's President Vladimir Putin has announced putting the deterrence forces on high alert, including the country’s nuclear weapons. The threat was drastically criticized by all the Western world, in a series of statements from both US and EU leaders and representatives.

7 million refugees are expected to leave Ukraine in the attempt to save their lives. According to the Ukrainian Health Minister, 352 civilians were killed during the invasion so far. 14 of them were children.

The UN General Assembly will host an emergency meeting of 193 countries in order to discuss the current conflict situation and humanitarian aid.

As a consequence of the Western sanctions, Russia's currency has dropped a record of 30% during Monday morning. Moreover, Ukraine's state service of special communications stated that Russia was affected by "significant losses of personnel" and consistent military equipment damages.

Belarus is also expected to send troops to Ukraine, with media reports on this intention from both US and Ukrainian publications. Nevertheless, President Zelensky had pledged Alexander Lukashenko not to deploy Belarusian military armed forces into his country during telephone talks.

Belarus government has announced on Sunday that the country will renounce its non-nuclear status, translating into the risky possibility of Russia staging nuclear weapons to the north of Ukraine, on Belarusian territory.

Meanwhile, the whole world witnesses the remarkable resistance of both Ukrainian troops and civilians facing unprecedented Russian aggression, as everyone is hoping for peace in the area.

- More updates to come. -

Source: bbc.co