Ukraine at ‘turning point’, president says, as war with Russia enters third week
- President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine had ‘already reached a strategic turning point’, though it was ‘impossible to say’ how long the war would continue
- Russian forces appeared to be regrouping for a possible assault on Kyiv on Saturday as they kept up their bombardment of cities across the country
Conflict raged northwest of Kyiv on Saturday and other cities were encircled and under heavy shelling, while Ukrainian officials said fighting and threats of Russian air attacks were endangering attempted evacuations.
Russian forces appeared to be regrouping, sending new forces to Ukraine after suffering what Zelensky said were its biggest losses in decades, possibly targeting the capital Kyiv.
With the Russian assault in its third week, Zelensky, who has rallied his people with a series of addresses from the capital Kyiv, said Ukraine had “already reached a strategic turning point”.
“It is impossible to say how many days we still have [ahead of us] to free Ukrainian land. But we can say we will do it,” he said. “We are already moving towards our goal, our victory.”