Yes, Putin genuinely believes Russia is winning war in Ukraine, says Austria’s leader after tea at the Kremlin
Vladimir Putin is genuinely convinced he is winning the war in Ukraine as the Russian president is “in his own war logic” over Ukraine, Austria’s chancellor said after a visit to the Kremlin.
Karl Nehammer told NBC in an interview that he thinks Mr Putin believes he is winning the war.
The politician was the first European leader to meet Putin in Moscow since Russia launched its invasion on February 24.
“We have to look in his eyes and we have to confront him with that, what we see in Ukraine.”
Karl Nehammer
Before arriving in Moscow last Monday, Nehammer had visited Bucha, Ukraine, the town outside of Kyiv where graphic evidence of killings and torture has emerged following the withdrawal of Russian forces.
The chancellor told Meet the Press that he confronted Putin with what he had seen in Bucha, and “it was not a friendly conversation”.
He said Putin said “he will co-operate with an international investigation, on one hand, and on the other hand, he told me that he doesn’t trust the Western world. So this will be the problem now in the future”.
Russian general buried
Amid Putin’s conviction he is winning the war, a Russian general whose troops have been besieging the Ukrainian port of Mariupol was buried on Saturday in St Petersburg after dying in battle, the governor said.
Major General Vladimir Frolov was deputy commander of the 8th Army, which Russian media identified as being among the forces battering Mariupol.
Governor Alexander Beglov released a statement saying Maj Gen Frolov “died a heroic death in battle” without saying where or when.
Photographs on Russian news websites showed his grave at a St Petersburg cemetery piled high with red and white flowers.
Ukraine has claimed that several Russian generals and dozens of other high-ranking officers have been killed during the war.
Mariupol
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he spoke on Saturday with the leaders of Britain and Sweden about how best to help those defending Mariupol and the tens of thousands of civilians trapped inside the besieged city.
Mariupol’s fate can be decided either through battle or diplomacy, Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the nation.
“Either our partners give Ukraine all of the necessary heavy weapons, the planes, and without exaggeration immediately, so we can reduce the pressure of the occupiers on Mariupol and break the blockade,” he said.
“Or we do so through negotiations, in which the role of our partners should be decisive.”
Russia’s bombardment of cities around Ukraine on Saturday included an explosion in Kharkiv that destroyed a community kitchen.
Associated Press journalists at the scene recorded the immediate aftermath of the apparent missile attack. Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said three people were killed and 34 wounded by missile strikes on Saturday in that city alone.
The kitchen was set up by World Central Kitchen, which is run by celebrity chef Jose Andres to establish feeding systems in disaster and war zones. Mr Andres tweeted that the non-governmental organisation’s staff members were shaken but safe.
The organisation says it has now reached 30 cities across the country, providing nearly 300,000 meals a day.
Andres said the attack in Kharkiv shows that “to give food in the middle of a senseless war is an act of courage, resilience and resistance”, adding his group’s chefs will keep cooking for Ukraine.