Zelensky: Russian aggression not limited to Ukraine alone

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said late Saturday that democratic countries are united in working to stop the Russian invasion as civilians continued to flee eastern parts of the country before an expected onslaught and firefighters searched for survivors in a northern town no longer occupied by Russian forces.

In his daily late-night video address to Ukrainians, Zelensky said that "Russian aggression was not intended to be limited to Ukraine alone" and the "entire European project is a target for Russia."

Several European leaders have made efforts to show solidarity with the battle-scarred nation. Zelensky thanked the leaders of Britain and Austria for their visits Saturday to Kiev, Ukraine's capital, and pledges of further support. He also thanked the European Commission president and Canada's prime minister for a global fundraising event that brought in more than 10 billion euros ($11 billion) for Ukrainians who have fled their homes.

Zelensky repeated his call for a complete embargo on Russian oil and gas, which he called the sources of Russia's "self-confidence and impunity."

"Freedom does not have time to wait," Zelensky said. "When tyranny begins its aggression against everything that keeps the peace in Europe, action must be taken immediately."

More than six weeks after the invasion began, Russia has pulled its troops from the northern part of the country, around Kiev, and refocused on the Donbas region in the east. Western military analysts said an arc of territory in eastern Ukraine was under Russian control, from Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, in the north to Kherson in the south.

But counterattacks are threatening Russian control of Kherson, according to the Western assessments, and Ukrainian...