Ukraine announced today the resumption of operations to evacuate civilians from the devastated city of Mariupol, as Russia continues its offensive in the east of the country amid fears in Western countries about a possible annexation of the separatist Donbass territory.
“Mariupol: Withdrawal Continues,” the Ukrainian presidency said in a statement, based on information released by regional governments.
City officials in the port city in the south of Donbass, which is almost entirely occupied by the Russians, announced the withdrawal agreement with the support of the UN and the Red Cross on Monday night.
The meeting point was established in Berdiansk, 70 km from Mariupol.
The Ukrainian government said more than 100 civilians managed to escape over the weekend from the Azovstal steelworks, the last Ukrainian stronghold in Mariupol, where soldiers and civilians remained refugees in a maze of underground tunnels.
But yesterday, in the city of Zaporizhzhia, 200 km away, in a parking lot converted into a reception center, he did not record the arrival of any convoy from Mariupol, an important region of Russia. Donbass (east) and Crimea (south).
During the night, the Azov battalion defending the Azovstal steelworks condemned the new Russian bombings, including on buildings where civilians were located. A regimental deputy commander said the attacks prevented residents from leaving.
Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said hundreds of civilians were “blocked in Azovstal”.
referendum
In the rest of the country, “the enemy continued to attack Kharkov, the country’s second largest city, and neighboring towns,” the Ukrainian army’s general staff said in a statement.
In the south, near Izium, the Russians bombarded Ukrainian positions and “tried to take full control of the towns of Popasna and Rubizhne, as well as advancing towards the Port and Sloviansk” in the Donbass.
The port city of Odessa in southwestern Ukraine has been hit again by Russian missiles that killed a 15-year-old teenager, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
On their way to Donbass, the Russians took control of key parts of southern Ukraine, such as the city of Kherson, near the Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014 and 130 km from Odessa.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office announced the start of an investigation into “possible torture and murder” after two bodies were found in a ditch in the town of Novofontanka.
After more than two months of war, Western countries and Kyiv fear that Moscow will use the May 9 holiday, when Russia celebrates its victory over Nazi Germany, to try to make progress in Ukraine.
The defense minister of Ukraine spoke of an attempt to integrate the self-declared pro-Moscow republics of Donetsk and Lugansk into Russia, recognized by Vladimir Putin shortly before the war.
Michael Carpenter, the US ambassador to the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), said that annexation could be achieved by holding referendums in May, a strategy that reminds one of what happened in Crimea in 2014.
“This information is very reliable,” the diplomat said, before stating that Moscow has similar plans for Kherson.
“These fake referendums, edited votes will not be considered legitimate or any other attempt to annex Ukrainian territory,” he said.
New sanctions
The Russian occupation resulted in thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than 13 million people.
Without direct involvement in the war, Western powers responded with unprecedented sanctions against Russia and by sending weapons and money to Kiev.
With an unprecedented gesture, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke to the Ukrainian Parliament via videoconference today. He announced that he would provide 300 million pounds ($376 million) of military aid to Kiev.
At the same time, the European Union is working on a sixth package of sanctions, which includes a timetable to phase out Russia’s oil imports, and warns that member states must be prepared for the cessation of Russian gas supplies.
European diplomacy chief Josep Borrell said the new sanctions are likely to affect the financial sector, with more Russian banks being excluded from Swift, the international transactions system.
Pope Francis said in an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera that he is ready to go to Moscow to meet with Putin and try to end the war.
source: Noticias
