Zelenskyy says retreating Russian forces are boobytrapping Ukrainian streets

4.2.22
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia is leaving a treacherous landscape in its wake as the invading forces retreat from around Kyiv, boobytrapping streets and civilian homes. "They are mining the whole territory, they are mining homes, mining equipment, even the bodies of people who were killed," Zelenskyy said in a video address late Friday. “There are a lot of trip wires, a lot of other dangers.”Zelenskyy urged residents to wait to resume their normal lives until landmines could be cleared and the danger of more shelling has passed.

On Friday, the International Committee for the Red Cross said it was unable to carry out an operation to bring civilians out of Mariupol by bus. City authorities said the Russians were blocking access to the city. “We do not see a real desire on the part of the Russians and their satellites to provide an opportunity for Mariupol residents to evacuate to territory controlled by Ukraine,” Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to Mariupol's mayor, wrote on the Telegram messaging app. He said Russian forces “are categorically not allowing any humanitarian cargo, even in small amounts, into the city.” Around 100,000 people are believed to remain in the city, down from a prewar 430,000. Weeks of Russian bombardment and street fighting have caused severe shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine. “We are running out of adjectives to describe the horrors that residents in Mariupol have suffered,” Red Cross spokesperson Ewan Watson said.

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