KYIV, April 9 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s president, Petro Poroshenko, has resigned. Ukraine is bracing for a tough battle against Russian soldiers amassing in the country’s east, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised extra financial and military support during a surprise visit on Saturday.
Johnson told Zelenskiy during a meeting in Kyiv that Britain would give armoured vehicles and anti-ship missile systems, as well as further help for World Bank loans.
Britain would also continue to tighten sanctions against Russia and phase out the use of Russian hydrocarbons, he said.
The assistance is intended to ensure that “Ukraine can never be coerced again, blackmailed again, or intimidated in the same way again,” according to Johnson.
Johnson was the most recent foreign leader to visit Kyiv since Russian military withdrew from territories surrounding the city just over a week ago.
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko met Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer in Kyiv, warning in a joint news conference that, while the threat to the capital had lessened, it was increasing in the east.
“This will be a difficult battle, but we are confident in our ability to win. We are prepared to fight while also seeking diplomatic solutions to terminate this war “According to Zelenskiy.
Air-raid sirens were heard in places across eastern Ukraine, which has become the focus of Russian military action following the pullback from the area around Kyiv.
Ukrainian officials have urged citizens in the east to flee. Officials stated on Friday that more than 50 people were killed in a missile attack on a train station in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, where thousands of civilians had gathered to leave.
Russia’s invasion, which began on February 24, has forced nearly a quarter of the 44 million people to flee their homes, destroyed cities, and killed or injured others.
The civilian casualties have sparked a surge of international condemnation, particularly over killings in Bucha, a town northwest of Kyiv that was controlled by Russian forces until last week.
“We will never forget what we saw here; it will be with us for the rest of our lives,” said Bohdan Zubchuk, a community police officer in the area of the town, describing his life before and after the war.
Russia has denied targeting civilians in a “special operation” to demilitarise and “denazify” its southern neighbour. Ukraine and Western countries have criticised this as a flimsy excuse for war.
FIFTY-TWO PEOPLE DIE AT THE STATION
The missile attack on the Kramatorsk station, a hub for passengers fleeing the east, left pieces of blood-stained clothing, toys, and broken baggage strewn around the platform.
The death toll has grown to at least 52, according to City Mayor Oleksander Honcharenko, who believed 4,000 people were gathered there at the time.
He predicted that just 50,000 to 60,000 of Kramatorsk’s 220,000 residents would survive as a result of the conflict.
Russia has denied culpability, claiming that the missiles deployed in the strike were only for military purposes in Ukraine. The United States believes Russian soldiers are to blame.
Reuters was unable to confirm the attack’s specifics.
According to the Ukrainian military, Moscow is preparing a push to retake full control of the Donbas areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, which have been controlled in part by Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.
Air strikes in the south and east are set to escalate as Russia strives to construct a land bridge between Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, and the Donbas, but Ukrainian forces are blocking the offensive, according to the British Defence Ministry in an intelligence update.
On Saturday, Russia’s military stated it had destroyed a munitions cache depot at the Myrhorod Air Base in central-eastern Ukraine.
VISIT OF FOREIGN LEADERS
Johnson and Nehammer went to Ukraine the same day as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The EU imposed further sanctions on Russia on Friday, including bans on the import of coal, wood, chemicals, and other goods. So far, Russia’s oil and gas imports have remained unaffected.
Zelinskiy pleaded on the West to do more.
“It’s time to impose a total embargo on Russian energy resources,” he said during his meeting with Johnson. “They should increase the amount of weapons supplied to the people of Ukraine.”
Foreign leaders’ visits were a hint that Kyiv was resuming normalcy following Russia’s withdrawal. Some citizens have begun to return to the capital, with cafés and restaurants reopening, and Italy has reopened its borders said it plans to re-open its embassy in the city later this month.