THE UNITED STATES’ top diplomat and defence chief were in Ukraine’s capital yesterday making the first high-level visit by US officials since Russia invaded two months ago as hundreds remain trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol.

The trip by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin comes as the war enters its third month, with thousands dead and millions displaced.

Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met the US officials yesterday, as Mariupol’s defences were “already on the brink of collapse” and Ukraine was in dire need of offensive weapons.

“As long as there are no ‘offensives’, there will be a new Bucha every day,” he said in an interview on a Russian former lawyer’s popular YouTube channel, referring to the town where UN officials said they had documented the unlawful killings of around 50 civilians.

“Maybe they can help,” Arestovych added of the US envoys. “They wouldn’t come here, if they weren’t ready to give [weapons].”

United States diplomats will begin a gradual return to Ukraine this week, Washington’s secretary of state and defence chief said Monday, as they announced $700 million in military aid during their first war-time visit to Kyiv.

Washington ordered the withdrawal of its diplomats in the weeks prior to Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine, but has been a leading donor of financial aid and weaponry to the country, and a key sponsor of sanctions targeting Moscow.

“Since the start of hostilities, we’ve had a team across the border in Poland who’s been handling this work for us,” an official told reporters waiting for Blinken and Austin on the Polish side of the border.

“Starting this week, members of that team will be able to do day trips instead into Ukraine,” he said.

“Ultimately, [they will] resume presence in Kyiv.”

The visiting envoys also pledged another $700 million (€653 million) in military aid to Ukraine, including some $300 million (€280 million) to allow the country to purchase necessary weapons.

 Zelenskyy tweeted later Sunday that the “Ukraine-US friendship and partnership are stronger than ever”.

The United States has been a leading donor of finance and weaponry to Ukraine and a key sponsor of sanctions targeting Russia, but had not yet sent any top officials to Kyiv, while several European leaders had travelled there to underscore their support.

‘Fierce hatred’

The highly sensitive trip by two of US President Joe Biden’s top cabinet members coincided with Easter celebrations in the largely Orthodox country.

As Ukrainians marked a sombre Easter, with many braving bombardment for blessings, Russian forces showed no sign of easing their attacks.

Five civilians were killed and another five wounded in Donetsk yesterday, the besieged eastern region’s Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said. Authorities also reported a death in northeastern Kharkiv.

The day before, a missile strike on the southern city of Odessa left eight dead and at least 18 wounded, according to Zelenskyy, who said five missiles hit the historic city.

Russia’s defence ministry said it had targeted a major depot stocking foreign weapons near Odessa.

Zelenskyy accused Russia of being a terrorist state, one that has devastated the port city of Mariupol with weeks of unrelenting bombardment.

With thousands of its fighters and civilians in Mariupol facing increasingly dire conditions, Kyiv said yesterday it had invited Moscow to talks near the sprawling Azovstal steel plant, where Ukrainian soldiers are still holding out.

“We invited Russians to hold a special round of talks on the spot, right next to the walls of Azovstal,” the last Ukrainian stronghold in the strategic port, said Arestovych.

There was no immediate response from Russia. Its president, Vladimir Putin, had ordered his forces not to assault the plant, but the Ukrainians say the attacks continue unabated.

‘Pause to save lives’

On Sunday, the United Nations’ Ukraine crisis coordinator Amin Awad called for an “immediate stop” to fighting in Mariupol to allow trapped civilians to leave.

“The lives of tens of thousands, including women, children and older people, are at stake in Mariupol,” Awad said in a statement.

“We need a pause in fighting right now to save lives.”

The call came a day after the latest attempt to evacuate civilians from Mariupol failed.

In a message posted on social media, Sviatoslav Palamar – deputy commander of the far-right Azov Regiment, which is sheltering in a warren of tunnels under the steel plant — said Russian forces continued to rain down fire on Azovstal.

“The enemy continues air strikes, artillery from the sea… enemy tanks continue to strike and infantry is trying to storm,” said Palamar.

Ukrainian commander Sergey Volyna described the situation in the complex as “very difficult” and reiterated calls for the international community to help those remaining escape.

“We will not have time to wait for a military solution to the situation, the situation is very critical. Very heated. I don’t know how much time we have,” he said in an interview.

Mariupol, which the Kremlin claims to have “liberated”, is pivotal to Russia’s war plans to forge a land bridge to Russian-occupied Crimea – and possibly beyond, as far as Moldova.

The latest fighting followed an announcement earlier this week from a senior Russian military officer, who said Moscow aimed to take full control over the eastern Donbas region and southern Ukraine.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said it was “extremely concerned” after a number of its Ukrainian members were believed to have been arrested in pro-Russian separatist territories in the country’s east.

More than five million Ukrainians have fled the country, and millions of others have been displaced internally, officials say.

Easter Sunday

Even as fighting raged on, Ukrainians took time to observe a solemn Orthodox Easter yesterday.

Under the rain at a frontline position in the eastern town of Lyman, soldiers traded the usual patriotic salutation of “Glory to Ukraine!” for a cry of “Christ has risen!”

“Truly risen!” came the reply.

Around 50 civilians gathered in the town’s small Orthodox church. Artillery fire could be heard as they prayed.

Elsewhere on the front line, in the eastern city of Severodonetsk, Ukrainian troops had hidden their small stock of supplies, including Easter treats, under a bridge after Russian mortar rounds struck overnight.

Next to the Kalashnikovs were Coke bottles and cereal bars, as well as icing-covered Easter breads sprinkled with colourful sugar beads.

© AFP 2022