In a late-night speech, the president said the hundreds of thousands of people still in combat zones must leave. “The more people leave the Donetsk region now, the fewer people the Russian army will have to kill,” he said, adding that residents would receive compensation. “Many refuse to leave, but it still has to be done,” he added. “If you have the chance, please talk to those who still remain in the battle zones in Donbass. Please convince them that it is necessary to leave.” In a late-night speech, the president said the hundreds of thousands of people still in Donetsk’s battle zones must leave (AP) Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk was also quoted as saying that the evacuation had to take place before winter sets in, as the region’s natural gas reserves had been depleted. After an attack on prisoners of war in the separatist-controlled area on Thursday night. Both Ukrainian and Russian officials have pointed the finger at each other for the attack on the prison complex. “It was a deliberate Russian war crime, a deliberate mass killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war,” Mr Zelensky said in a video clip late on Friday. “There should be clear legal recognition of Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.” Separatist authorities and Russian officials said the attack killed 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war and wounded 75 others. Russia’s defense ministry released a list of the names of 48 Ukrainian fighters, aged 20 to 62, who died in the attack. it was unclear whether the ministry had revised its death toll. Both Ukrainian and Russian officials have pointed the finger at each other for the attack on the prison complex (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) Families of Ukrainian prisoners of war are desperately waiting to hear if their loved ones survived the bombing. Speaking to the Guardian, Alina Nesterenko, whose husband was jailed after being handed over to Azovstal, said: “At the moment, my husband is not on the lists and I believe he is alive.” The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has organized civilian evacuations and worked to monitor the treatment of prisoners held by Russia and Ukraine, said it had requested access to the prison “to determine the health and condition of all the people who are in the area at the time of the attack.” “Our priority at this time is to ensure that the injured receive life-saving treatment and that the bodies of those who have lost their lives are treated with dignity,” the Red Cross said. But the organization said late Saturday that its request for access to the prison had not been granted. Granting ICRC access to prisoners of war is an obligation of the parties to the conflict under the Geneva Conventions,” the ICRC said on Twitter. “We will not stop seeking access to these prisoners of war and all the prisoners of war of this international armed conflict to whom we have not yet had access.”
