Ukraine opens an investigation after an attack on a military ceremony
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday rejected the idea of holding negotiations with Moscow, announcing on the other hand that an investigation would be conducted into the killing of a group of Ukrainian soldiers who died in a Russian missile strike.
Ukraine said on Sunday that it had opened a criminal investigation after a Russian missile attack killed a number of soldiers during honoring ceremony near the front-line last week.
Local media reports reported that at least 20 soldiers were killed in an attack that occurred on Friday as members of a brigade gathered to receive medals in the Zaporizhia region in southern Ukraine.
“This is an avoidable tragedy,” Zelensky said in a speech on Sunday evening, adding that a criminal investigation had been opened into the attack.
The Ukrainian army confirmed on Saturday that a number of its soldiers from the “128th Mountain Assault Brigade” were killed in a missile attack the previous day, but it didn’t provide a death toll.
The army said that Russia fired an Iskander-M missile at members of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade, killing soldiers and wounding local residents with injuries of varying severity.
A Ukrainian soldier said on social media that 22 people from the brigade were killed, criticizing the commanders who held the ceremony.
Soldier Ivan Savitsky added, “Everyone says that heroes died, although it’s more appropriate to say that ‘heroes became victims”.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced in a press conference on Saturday that it had inflicted a fiery defeat on a Ukrainian attack unit in Zaporizhia, killing up to 30 people.
In response to a question from NBC news, Zelensky confirmed that he wasn’t ready to hold talks with Russia unless Moscow withdraws its forces from Ukraine.
He said that the United States “knows that I am not ready to talk to terrorists, because their words have no value”.
The Ukrainian president was commenting on reports that American and European officials discussed with the Ukrainian government the issue of conducting negotiations to end the war.
“Currently, I have no relations with the Russians, and they know my position,” he said, adding, “They must leave our lands, and only then can the world begin the diplomatic process”.
He pointed out that the conflict has reached a difficult stage, but it’s not at a dead end.
He continued, “On the front line, it’s no secret that we don’t have air defense… That’s why Russia rules the skies… If they control all the skies, we won’t be able to move forward quickly – until we have air defense”.
On Saturday, Ukraine announced that its forces bombed a shipyard in the city of Kerch on the eastern coast of the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.
