Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed Al-Tayyeb called for doubling humanitarian aid to Ukraine amid the Russian offensive in the country.
“We are witnessing the horror of Ukrainians leaving their homes in search of safety; It is a true test of our humanity,” Al-Tayeb said in a tweet.
“I call on the international community to increase humanitarian aid to Ukraine and to do more to stop the war, and I ask God to [resolve this crisis] and bring these innocent people home safe,” he said, tweeting in Arabic, English, and Ukrainian.
The Grand Imam’s tweet came as Russia continued to advance on Ukrainian territory and heavy fighting continued around the capital, Kyiv, after the Russian military resumed military operations in the strategic coastal city of Mariupol on Saturday.
As a result of the ongoing fighting in Ukraine, the humanitarian crisis has worsened with the number of refugees fleeing the country reaching 1.37m since the offensive began on 24 February, according to the latest UN figures.
The Russian military operation in Ukraine entered its eleventh day on Sunday, raising worries that Kyiv will eventually fall to Russian forces.
Correspondents reported that Kiev is completely besieged from all sides, and that there are Russian attempts to enter the Ukrainian capital from the north amid heavy Russian bombardment on Arbin on the outskirts of Kyiv.
This comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Russian missiles completely destroyed Vinnytsia Airport southwest of Kyiv.
According to the latest developments, Mariupol’s authorities announced the start of the evacuation of civilians through humanitarian corridors, while Russian authorities announced the evacuation of some 6,500 Ukrainians from Donetsk and Lugansk to Rostov.
The Russian Ministry of Defence also announced the destruction of 2,203 Ukrainian military infrastructure sites since the start of the offensive, the downing of eight Ukrainian fighter jets, the bombing of a military airport in southern Ukraine, the shooting down of six Ukrainian Turkish Bayraktar marches, and the destruction of 69 Ukrainian fighters on the ground, 24 in the air, and 778 tanks.
Furthermore, Russia said it destroyed Ukraine’s Starokostantanov Military Airbase with long-range high-precision weapons.
Russian missile forces also destroyed a Ukrainian S-300 missile defence system.
Furthermore, the Ukrainian General Staff said that Russian forces were moving toward the Kanev Hydroelectric Power Plant in southern Kyiv, while Ukrainian intelligence said that Russia was deploying Tochka ballistic missiles in Kyiv’s vicinity.
Additionally, The UK’s military intelligence accused Russia of targeting residential areas in Ukraine, as was the case in Syria and Chechnya.
The Washington Post reported that the US and its allies are preparing for a Ukrainian government in exile and are providing Ukraine with weapons and equipment that could be crucial in street warfare.
The post also highlighted Zelensky’s bravery, who has so far refused to leave the capital and move to the western city of Lviv.
Zelensky is the central force on which Ukraine’s allies depend for morale and mobilisation, as Ukrainians rise up against Russia and wage a street-to-street war against it in Kyiv that could last months, perhaps years.
Ukraine’s allies are planning to direct such a war with weapons and qualitative equipment that may be crucial to the battle, the paper reported.
“While there is no optimism of major results, there is hope for limited agreements that will reduce the intensity of the ongoing fighting,” the post said.
