Russia Reshuffles Military Command, Reorganizes Forces to ‘Success’ in Ukraine: Live Updates

The mayor of the besieged city of Mariupol said that nearly 31,000 residents were forcibly deported and sent to Russian “liquidation camps” in occupied eastern Ukraine.

Mayor Vadim Boychenko said in a Telegram post on Friday that he had “verified” that Ukrainians from the southern port city were taken “at gunpoint” to a camp in Novoazovsk – a Ukrainian border town 35 miles from Mariupol and just 9 miles from Russia. border.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed a new commander of operational command in Ukraine as officials warn that Moscow is looking to shift its focus in eastern Ukraine after more than six weeks of war.

The BBC reported late Friday that General Alexander Dvornikov, commander of Russia’s Southern Military District, will now lead the invasion.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a short pre-recorded speech at the Stand up for Ukraine forum organized in Warsaw, Poland, called for additional sanctions against Russia and more support.

He urged “sanctions be imposed on all Russian banks. A Russian oil embargo must be imposed. The Russian war crimes machine must be deprived of its ability to operate.”

“Vital assistance must be given to Ukraine. We have asked for weapons. We have asked for financial assistance. We have asked for support for Ukraine and the migrants for the 10 million people forced by the Russians to flee their homes.”

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Members of the European Union delegation announced, Friday, that they will remain in Kyiv to reopen the delegation and assess the conditions for the return of staff, as reported by Reuters.

Josep Borrell, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said the move would allow the bloc to better support Ukrainian citizens.

Italy announced Saturday that it intends to follow suit, aiming to reopen its embassy in Kyiv “immediately after Easter,” according to Italian Foreign Minister Di Maio.

Several measures Russia has taken in recent days, along with a looming holiday with cultural significance within the country, suggest Russia is stepping up its invasion of Ukraine in the near future, an expert told Fox News Digital.

Rebecca Kofler, a former CIA intelligence officer who focused on Russia and author of “Putin’s Rules Rules: Russia’s Secret Plan to Defeat America,” told Fox News Digital Friday that May 9, the day Russia celebrates victory over Germany in World War II. Second, it is the date when Putin feels pressure to achieve some kind of victory in Ukraine.

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President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Friday night speech included updates on the Russian attack on the Kramatorsk railway station and renewed calls for international action.

in one particular statmentZelensky referred to the “excuses” that countries have for delaying basic aid to Ukraine.

“Any delays in providing such weapons to Ukraine, any excuses can only mean one thing: the politicians involved want to help the Russian leadership more than we Ukrainians,” he said.

Ukrainian government formed a website To archive alleged war crimes committed by the Russian military during their invasion of their country.

According to the site, more than 1,500 civilians were killed in the war and 2,200 others were wounded.

And the archive stated that “Russian forces destroyed more than 6,800 civilian infrastructure facilities,” noting that power plants, schools and kindergartens were bombed.

“The main target of the Russian army is Ukrainian civilians. Here are the consequences,” the archive continues, with dozens of photos before and after the massacres and devastation caused by the war.

One witness was quoted as saying in the archives: “We were walking around the city, bodies were lying around. Women, men and children. We tried to distract our children in the car so that they wouldn’t look there. It’s horrific.” .

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused the Russian military of “war crimes” and renewed calls for the international community to hold it accountable following an attack on a civilian train station that killed at least 52 people.

“Like the massacres in Bucha, like many other Russian war crimes, the missile attack on Kramatorsk should be one of the charges in court that should be tried,” Zelensky said.

The Ukrainian leader said he would seek “to determine every minute who did what, who gave the orders, where the missile came from, who moved it, who gave the order, and how this strike was agreed upon.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused the Russian military of deliberately targeting a train station in Kramatorsk that killed at least 52 people and injured more than 100.

In his nightly video address on Friday, Zelensky said his government was seeking “to determine every minute who did what, who gave the orders, where the missile came from, who moved it, who gave the order, and how this strike was agreed upon.”

And the mayor of Kramatorsk, Oleksandr Goncharenko, painted a terrible scene: “There are many people in a dangerous condition, without arms or legs.”

Russia denied involvement in the attack, blaming Ukraine instead. Russian officials said it was not using the missile that hit the station.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A report said Russia is reorganizing its military operations in Ukraine, including changing its top leadership.

General Alexander Dvornikov, who led the Russian invasion of Syria, will lead the Ukrainian invasion, according to the BBC.

This particular commander has significant experience of Russian operations operations in Syria. So we expect to improve overall command and control.”

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki responded to reports that Russian forces had bombed a train station, killing dozens, during a White House news conference on Friday.

“What we’ve seen over the past six weeks or so are what the president himself has described as war crimes,” Psaki said. “And it is the deliberate targeting of civilians. This is yet another horrific atrocity committed by Russia, injuring civilians trying to evacuate and reach safety.

Psaki stopped short of calling the train station attack a war crime, but said the United States was investigating what happened.

“It is clear that targeting civilians would certainly be a war crime,” Psaki said. “And we have already called a set of actions that we have seen so far a war crime. But we will support efforts to investigate exactly what happened here.”

Russia is ramping up its war effort in eastern Ukraine, and a senior US defense official told reporters on Friday that Moscow might consider recruiting up to 60,000 soldiers to join the fight.

The official said the Pentagon had seen “indications” that Russia was looking to start a “mobilization phase” as it retools troops in Russia and Belarus.

Moscow said last week that it would withdraw its forces from the areas around the capital Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv, as an expression of goodwill.

Read more: Russia plans to mobilize 60,000 reservists as it sets its sights on eastern Ukraine

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