Zelensky urges Swiss to target Russian money

Internet marketing sales manager Maxim Yavtushenko, 32, and his girlfriend, graphic designer Olga Moroz, 26, who volunteered to join the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces, pose for a picture during a training session in Odessa. (Reuters)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called yesterday for comprehensive peace talks with Moscow and also urged Switzerland to do more to crack down on wealthy Russian oligarchs who he said were helping wage war on his country with their money. British intelligence meanwhile warned that Russia, frustrated by its failure to achieve its objectives since it launched the invasion on February 24, was now pursuing a strategy of attrition that could intensify the humanitarian crisis. Zelenskiy, who makes frequent impassioned appeals to foreign audiences for help for his country, told an anti-war protest in Bern that Swiss banks were where the “money of the people who unleashed this war” lay and their accounts should be frozen. Ukrainian cities “are being destroyed on the orders of people who live in European, in beautiful Swiss towns, who enjoy property in your cities. It would really be good to strip them of this privilege,” he said in an audio address. Neutral Switzerland, which is not a member of the European Union, has fully adopted EU sanctions against Russian individuals and entities, including orders to freeze their wealth in Swiss banks. The EU measures are part of a wider effort by Western nations aimed at squeezing Russia’s economy and starving its war machine. In an address earlier yesterday, Zelenskiy urged Moscow to hold peace talks now. “I want everyone to hear me now, especially in Moscow. The time has come for a meeting, it is time to talk,” he said in a video address. “The time has come to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine. Otherwise, Russia’s losses will be such that it will take you several generations to recover.” Britain’s Defence Attaché to the United States said British intelligence believes Russia has been taken aback by the Ukrainian resistance to its assault and has so far failed to achieve its original objectives. “Russia has been forced to change its operational approach and is now pursuing a strategy of attrition” likely to involve the “indiscriminate use of firepower resulting in increased civilian casualties”, Air Vice-Marshal Mick Smeath said in a statement. Yesterday, Russia said its hypersonic missiles had destroyed a large underground depot for missiles and aircraft ammunition in the western Ivano-Frankivsk region. Hypersonic weapons can travel faster than five times the speed of sound and the Interfax agency said it was the first time Russia had used them in Ukraine. A spokesperson for the Ukrainian Air Force Command confirmed the attack, but said the Ukrainian side had no information on the type of missiles used. Ukrainian authorities said yesterday they had not seen any significant shifts over the past 24 hours in front line areas, noting the cities of Mariupol, Mykolaiv and Kherson in the south and Izyum in the east continued to see the heaviest fighting. Ordinary Ukrainians have joined the effort to defend their country, such as at a training facility in Odessa, a picturesque, multicultural Black Sea port, where young urban professionals were learning about handling weapons and applying first aid. “Every person should know how to fight, how to make medicine,” said 26-year-old graphic designer Olga Moroz. More than 3.3 million refugees have fled Ukraine through its western border, with around 2 more million displaced inside the country.