Zelensky says Mariupol terror a war crime that will be remembered for centuries

LVIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says the siege of Mariupol will go down in history for what he’s calling war crimes by Russia’s military.

“To do this to a peaceful city, what the occupiers did, is a terror that will be remembered for centuries to come,” he says early Sunday in his nighttime video address to the nation.

Zelensky tells Ukrainians the ongoing negotiations with Russia were “not simple or pleasant, but they are necessary.” He says he discussed the course of the talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday.

“Ukraine has always sought a peaceful solution. Moreover, we are interested in peace now,” he said.

Meanwhile, Russia’s military isn’t even recovering the bodies of its soldiers in some places, Zelensky says.

“In places where there were especially fierce battles, the bodies of Russian soldiers simply pile up along our line of defense. And no one is collecting these bodies,” he says. He described a battle near Chornobayivka in the south, where Ukrainian forces held their positions and six times beat back the Russians, who just kept “sending their people to slaughter.”