Zelenskyy: Russia is preparing to bomb Odessa

Kyiv, Mar 6 (EFE).- Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday said that the Russian forces are preparing to bomb the southern Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odessa.

“They are preparing to bomb Odessa. Odessa!” the Ukrainian president said in a video message.

“The Russians have always come to Odessa. They have always felt only warmth in Odessa, only sincerity.

“And now what? Bombs on Odessa? Artillery on Odessa? Missiles on Odessa? It will be a war crime. It will be a historical crime,” he added.

Earlier in the day, Ukraine’s security and defense council secretary, Oleksiy Danilov, said that Russia was preparing for a second wave of a large-scale offensive and was not giving up hope of taking Kyiv.

“The enemy’s plan is to seize key cities, drain off the Ukrainian Armed Forces, create a humanitarian catastrophe for the civilian population,” Danilov said, the UNIAN news agency reported.

The Ukrainian cities of Kyiv (north), Kharkiv (east), Mariupol (southeast), Mykolaiv (south), Chernihiv (north) and Odessa remain strategically important for the Russians, he added. EFE

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