Zelensky calls on forces not to surrender, leaves to Lvov
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky leaves the capital Kiev and heads to Lvov after calling on his nationals not to surrender and giving out arms to civilians.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made statement after statement since Saturday morning about the situation in his country and how he was still in Kiev, standing with his armed forces in the face of the Russian operation.
Zelensky has left his country's capital for Lvov, Sputnik reported Saturday. Russia State Duma chair Vyacheslav Volodin confirmed the media reports, who said, "Together with his entourage, he fled to the city of Lvov."
"He has not been in the capital of Ukraine since yesterday. He fled to the city of Lvov, where he, along with his assistants, was provided with a place to stay," the Russian official said.
Additionally, Volodin highlighted that all the videos the Ukrainian president posted on social media had been recorded in advance.
Zelensky calls on Ukrainians not to surrender
Volodin's statements came a few hours after Zelensky said Ukraine had "derailed the Russian attack plan," alleging that the Ukrainian army had taken offer Kiev and several key points around it.
Zelensky had taken to Twitter to call on his populace not to surrender and defend the Ukrainian capital. "I am here. We will not surrender our arms and we will defend our country."
He also urged the Ukrainians not to believe the "false news" circulating on social media about him telling his army to surrender their weapons. "Our arms are the truth. This is our land and children. We will defend all of that."
Не вірте фейкам. pic.twitter.com/wiLqmCuz1p
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 26, 2022
As Zelensky left Kiev, the city's mayor imposed a harsher curfew, banning citizens from going outside from 5 pm until 8 am. The former curfew was from 10 pm.
As the situation grows tenser in Ukraine, the Ukrainian armed forces prohibited journalists from taking any photos or videos in Kiev, Al Mayadeen correspondent to Ukraine reported, saying that the army was preparing for street fighting in the capital.
Ukraine armed forces shell a residential building
As the Ukrainian authorities scramble to keep the situation under control, the army blundered and fired a missile toward a residential building in Kiev - by mistake.
A Russian defense ministry source clarified that the strike was Ukrainian, not Russian. He went on to dismiss the false news circulating about the incident, which had been attributing the strike to Moscow.
"The damages indicate that the building was hit by an anti-aircraft missile," the source said.
Источник в Минобороны опроверг информацию о ракетном ударе по дому в Киевеhttps://t.co/Axh3NqWIdc pic.twitter.com/TfY96sqKwD
— РИА Новости (@rianru) February 26, 2022
"The reports of the building being hit by a Russian missile are not true as the nature of the damage, which can be seen in the video, suggest that it is more in line with a Buk-type system," the source said.
"It appears that while repelling night-time fire on Ukraine's military infrastructure, a Ukrainian mid-range Buk-M1's missile guidance malfunctioned and a missile accidentally hit the side of a residential building," he added.
He attributed the malfunction to the missile not undergoing maintenance, as well as the age of the Ukrainian equipment, which Kiev has had since the Soviet times.
Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a special military operation in Donbass over the constant Ukrainian shelling of Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics, whose independence Moscow recognized a few days ahead of the operation.
Moscow's military operation in Ukraine is not a beginning of a war, but rather an attempt at curbing a global one, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said Thursday.
"First of all, it is not a beginning of a war. It is very important. Our desire is to prevent the developments that could escalate into a global war. Second of all, it is the end of a war," Zakharova told NTV, a Russian broadcaster.
Russia has for months been warning of the threat posed against it by NATO's attempts to expand eastward, which happened simultaneously with an increase in NATO military activity along Russia's borders, and batches of lethal weapons being sent to Ukraine, prompting Russia to request security guarantees from the West. Washington failed to provide the guarantees.
Tensions had been soaring between Russia and Ukraine over the Donbass region and announcing it was intending to sign a decree recognizing the independence of the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) and the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
The announcement had been preceded by intense Ukrainian shelling of the two republics, and Russia's recognition of their statehood was a move to protect the innocent civilians from the Ukrainian aggressions.
