As a massive Russian armored convoy nears Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appointed a top army general to lead the defense of Ukraine’s capital city.
Gen. Mykola Zhernov will be head of Kyiv’s military administration “for the period of the war,” Mr. Zelenskyy said in a statement released by the Ministry of Defense. Vitali Klitschko will remain as mayor of Kyiv and will have “his own sphere of responsibility.”
“Now it is the joint work of the mayor and the head of the military administration. After the war, we will return everything to its place in the capital,” Mr. Zelenskyy said.
He said the defense of Kyiv is the “key priority” of the state. Private satellite imagery has shown a massive, 40-mile-long convoy of Russian troops and vehicles making its way to the capital, as Russia tries to regain the offensive in an invasion now stretching into its sixth day.
“Kyiv is special. If we protect Kyiv, we will protect the state,” Mr. Zelenskyy said. “This is the heart of our country, and it must keep beating. And it will keep beating so that life triumphs.”
Ukraine’s president accused Russia of committing state terrorism with a cruise missile strike that hit a spot known as Freedom Square in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.
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“There was no military target on the square. Just as in those residential areas of Kharkiv hit by rocket artillery, the rocket aimed at the central square is an outright, undisguised terror,” Mr. Zelenskyy said. “The attack on Kharkiv is a war crime. After that, Russia is a terrorist state.”
He called on other nations of the world to “immediately and effectively” respond to Russia’s missile attack on Kharkiv.
“We demand full responsibility for terrorists in international courts,” Mr. Zelenskyy said. “No one will forgive. No one will forget.”
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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