Pope Francis expressed his desire to visit war-torn Ukraine and blasted Russia's continued aggression toward the Eastern European nation that displaced millions of civilians.
During a flight from Rome to Malta on the papal plane, Francis was asked by a journalist if he was considering an invitation from the Ukrainian government and religious officials. The Pope gave an affirmative answer, saying, "it is on the table." However, the head of the Roman Catholic Church did not provide further information, according to ABC News.
In his message, Pope Francis said "some potentiate" had launched the danger of nuclear war on the world in an "infantile and destructive" attack under the pretext of "anachronist claims of nationalistic interests. However, he did not mention the name of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He added that the world thought that "invasions" of other nations, "savage" fighting in the streets, and "atomic threats" have become "grim memories" in history.
Last month, the 85-year-old pontiff strongly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which he called unreasonable, and civilians' attacks as "barbaric."
Millions Displaced, Thousands Trapped in Ukraine
According to UN High Commissioner for Refugees, there are more than 10.5 million people have been displaced either within Ukraine or elsewhere as refugees.
Throughout the country, 13 million people are believed to be in desperate need of humanitarian help. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people are reportedly trapped, with a limited supply of food and water, in the city of Mariupol.
According to a DW report, the situation on the ground on Saturday is "far from being well-organized" and "pretty chaotic."
The dire scenario makes it difficult for a Red Cross evacuation team to reach the trapped residents in the besieged port city. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the team has been trying to rescue the civilians since Friday.
But Russia's Defense Ministry blames the ICRC team, saying that the convoys left too late in their scheduled travel into the city.
Ukrainian Military Regains Kyiv Region
Meanwhile, a senior Ukrainian defense official claimed that the Kyiv region had been set free from Russian control.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said in a Facebook post on Saturday that the Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel, and "the whole" region of Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, was "liberated from the invader."
She said in a post on Facebook that Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel, and "the whole Kyiv region was liberated from the invader." Now it is time to refrain from entering the freed settlements until the allocation is completed," the translation of her post reads. In the past days, Ukrainian forces regained control of Kyiv's suburbs.
However, as of present writing, the international media network CNN has not received immediate verification if the Kyiv region is already clear of Russian military presence. But Moscow's troops claimed that it is "de-escalating" the region.
The mayor of Bucha, outside Ukraine's capital Kyiv, said that around 300 people had been buried in a mass grave in his town, which the Ukrainian forces retook from Russian control.
Bucha Mayor Anatoly Fedoruk said that there are "280 people in mass graves," and the town streets are devastated with corpses lying everywhere, as per an Al Jazeera report.
The local official added that the victims, men, and women, were "shot, killed, in the back of the head"-- including a 14-year old boy.
Fedoruk also said that it had been a difficult challenge to collect corpses on the town streets at the moment due to fears that the Russian military placed booby traps in the dead bodies. He said that he had sighted no less than 22 corpses along the roads of Bucha.