"The day before yesterday, 31 bombs fell here. We don't believe a word from Putin": In the Kharkiv region, people don't believe that the idea of a 30-day truce can work. ARD report from Kupyansk.
The hands of a resident of Kupyansk are shaking as she packs several bags with her last belongings. She is fleeing Russian troops in eastern Ukraine. Volunteers put the elderly lady in a small van and take her to a safe place. The scene was filmed by French television.
Talks about a possible ceasefire seem distant here - on the front line in the Kharkiv region, writes the German public television in turn. A local resident told ARD: "I don't believe it. When Putin said they would leave the energy infrastructure alone, they attacked the electrical transformer here."
Life under occupation
Russian troops are only a few kilometers from Kupyansk. The city was once occupied by Russian troops for several months, and since then people have been living with the war. Most of them have long since fled, but now even the last remaining residents in the city are becoming unbearable due to the fierce Russian shelling, the German media reports.
"This is pure stress. The day before yesterday, 31 bombs fell here. I don't believe a single word Putin says," the woman says, adding that the Russian leader should be sent a nuclear bomb to the Kremlin. “Then we will have peace."
77% of Ukrainians want a ceasefire
Trust in Putin is inversely proportional to the anger that local people feel towards him and Russia, the ARD report from Kupyansk goes on to say. Nevertheless, the majority of Ukrainians want an end to the war - 77% of the country's population supports the idea of a 30-day ceasefire, current attitudes show. Moscow, however, has so far rejected such a proposal.
After the recent talks in Saudi Arabia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also expressed skepticism: “It is too early to say that this will work. But these were the right meetings, the right decisions, the right steps.“ No one could accuse Ukraine of not moving towards sustainable peace, Zelensky added.
He is grateful to the US side for the talks in Saudi Arabia. The partial ceasefire in the Black Sea and the attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure must come into effect immediately, ARD emphasizes.
Moscow sets conditions - easing sanctions
However, Moscow does not accept this unconditionally: Before the attacks are stopped, Russia insists on the lifting of food sanctions.
Thus, the war in Ukraine continues in full force. And in the evening, air raid sirens will again sound in many parts of the country, ARD also says in the report.