Zelenskiy meets leaders, braces for 'hard battle'
STORY: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, one of his staunchest backers, in Kyiv on Saturday.
Johnson's visit to the Ukrainian capital was not announced in advance, and comes as Russia is amassing troops in the east of the country after pulling back from the outskirts of Kyiv last week.
The British leader announced on Twitter that the goal of the visit is to set out a new financial and military aid package for Ukraine against, quote, “Russia’s barbaric campaign.”
JOHNSON: “I want to begin Volodymyr by saluting once again the bravery of the people of Ukraine in defying the appalling aggression that we have seen.”
Earlier in the day, Zelenskiy met Austrian Chancellor Karl Mehammer, warning in a joint news conference of a tough battle ahead.
“(Russian) forces are being gathered in the east and south. A large amount of forces, equipment, armed people who are preparing to occupy yet another part of our territory. This will be a tough battle."
The meetings come just a day after officials say more than 50 people, including children, were killed in a missile strike on a railway station in the Donetsk city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine.
Many more were injured among the 4,000 said to be waiting to be evacuated away from the fighting. Ukraine said it was aiming to establish up to 10 evacuation corridors for civilians in the east.
Russia's defense ministry denied responsibility, saying in a statement the missiles that struck the station were used only by Ukraine's military and that Russia's armed forces had no targets assigned in Kramatorsk on Friday.
Reuters was unable to verify the details of the attack.
The civilian casualties have triggered a wave of international condemnation, in particular those in the town of Bucha, just northwest of Kyiv that until last week was occupied by Russian forces.
Officials have said that 360 civilians were killed. Reuters could not independently verify those figures.
Rescue workers in Borodyanka, less than 40 miles northwest of Kyiv, spent Friday digging through rubble for survivors.
Local resident Mariya recalled the horror to Reuters.
“For 36 days people lay under the rubble and the Russians fired, not allowing people to be pulled out from under the rubble.”
European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, who toured the wreckage in Bucha Friday, said on Saturday the Commission will pledge 1 billion euros to support Ukraine and countries receiving refugees fleeing the war.
"…for the European Commission that we want to pledge one billion euros.”
Zelenskiy continues to demand tough sanctions on Russia from the West...
"They have to do everything to force Russia to seek peace."
Russia's invasion, which began on February 24th, has forced more than four million to flee their homes, turned cities into rubble and killed or injured thousands.
Russia has denied targeting civilians in what it calls a "special operation" to demilitarize and "denazify" its southern neighbor. Ukraine and Western nations have dismissed this as a baseless pretext for war.
Moscow's sights are said to be set on gaining full control of Donetsk and Luhansk, the regions partly held by Russian-backed separatists since 2014.
