Kyiv announces the departure of Russian forces from the Chernobyl station, and Zelensky calls for additional sanctions

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for more sanctions to be imposed on Russia, accusing Moscow of "killing civilians and children," and said that Russian units are strengthening their presence to launch new attacks in the Donbass region.

The Ukrainian authorities announced Thursday evening that the Russian forces had left the Chernobyl station, which they had controlled since the start of the attack on Ukraine on February 24.

"There are no longer foreigners inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant," the Ukrainian state agency in charge of managing the station's area said on Facebook.

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Thursday for the imposition of more sanctions on Russia, accusing Moscow of "killing civilians and children" in his country.

"The distance between our countries is great, but there is no distance for the brutality of the Russians in our Ukrainian land," Zelensky said in a remote speech to members of the Australian Parliament.

He added, "They are bombing our cities. They are killing our civilians and our children. They are laying siege to our cities, holding hundreds and thousands of people without food or water, they are kidnapping thousands of children to their lands."

He called for more help from the Australian government "to support Ukraine in defending itself against Russia".

Recently, Australia imposed sanctions on more than 500 Russian individuals and entities, including the oligarchs with close ties to President Vladimir Putin, and the Russian Ministry of Finance.

New attacks in Donbass

In Donbass, the Ukrainian president said that Russian units are strengthening their presence to launch new attacks in the region.

He added that the Ukrainian people will continue the fight to defend their homeland against Russia until the liberation of all the country's territories and justice in the Black Sea region.

Concerning the withdrawal of Russian forces from the vicinity of Kyiv and Chernigov, he explained that "this is not a withdrawal, but rather it took place with the efforts of our soldiers, and at the same time Russia is strengthening its units to launch new attacks on Donbass."

400,000 Ukrainians displaced

Ukrainian parliamentarian, Lyudmila Denisova, said that more than 400,000 Ukrainians have been "forcibly" displaced to Russia, since the latter began its military operation in the country.

Denisova, a member of the parliament's human rights committee, added, in statements to Euronews, on Wednesday evening, that Ukraine is currently collecting evidence of "Russian war crimes."

On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine, which was followed by angry international reactions and the imposition of "tough" economic and financial sanctions on Moscow.

To end the operation, Russia requires Ukraine to abandon any plans to join military entities, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and to adhere to complete neutrality, which Kyiv considers an "interference in its sovereignty."