The Russian army and pro-Moscow forces launched an offensive against the Azovstal complex, the last stronghold of the Ukrainian resistance, in the southeastern port city of Mariupol. In recent days, civilians have been evacuated due to the ceasefire.

The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed the attack. According to the Russian agency RIA, the ministry’s spokesperson said, Vadim Astafyev said: Ukrainian soldiers used the quiet regime in Azovstal to reach firing positions.

“They came out of the basements, took up firing positions in the area and on the factory buildings,” he said, adding that the Russian army and pro-Russian forces “started to destroy these firing positions.”

According to Ukrainian media, the head of the patrol police department in Mariupol, Mykhailo Vershinin, said that Russian forces “occupied the factory from several places.” “We defend, we counterattack.”

The Azov Regiment, which was with refugee civilians in Azovstal, said that at least two women were killed in the night attacks. “We call for an emergency ceasefire and continued evacuation of citizens to secure areas controlled by Ukraine,” the group said in a statement.

“The Russians are trying to enter the complex, which was bombed by planes before the attack,” said Svyatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Azov Regiment, quoted by the online Ukrayinska Pravda newspaper.

Mariupol mayor Vadym Boichenko said earlier that at least 200 civilians took shelter at the factory. azovstalagain in our castle that is being destroyed… and they too are awaiting evacuation.” According to the mayor, Azvostal is “under attack every day”.

Due to its location, the city is considered a key point for Russia’s desire to advance on Ukrainian territory, providing a link between Crimea and pro-Russian separatist regions.

Today, the occupation Russian It reached the 69th day with the Russian army’s offensive. Russia said it attacked a warehouse in Odessa, in southern Ukraine, with weapons sent by the United States and European countries. Also Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered more retaliatory sanctions against the West, without giving details.

Pope and Putin

Pope Francis said he was willing to go to Moscow and talk to Putin about Russia’s war on Ukrainian soil, at which point he refused to go to Ukraine. In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, published today, he said, “I am not going to Kiev now,” recalling that he had sent representatives to Ukraine – last month the Ukrainian government asked Francis to go to Kiev. “But I feel like I don’t have to go. I have to go to Moscow first, I have to meet with Putin first.”

In the interview, Francis said he wanted to “make a clear gesture for the whole world to see”. “So I went to the Russian ambassador. I asked for their explanation. I said, ‘Please stop.’ I asked Cardinal Parolin. [secretário de Estado do Vaticano]”To convey the message to Putin that I am ready to go to Moscow after twenty days of war.”

“Of course, the Kremlin leader had to allow some windows. Although I fear that Putin cannot and does not want to hold this meeting at this time, we still have not received a response and we continue to insist. But how can such atrocities not stop?”

Francis recalled that he spoke to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, via video call in March. “I talked to Kirill for 40 minutes. The first twenty minutes he read me all the reasons for the war with a card in his hand,” he recalls.

“I listened and said, ‘I don’t understand any of this. Brother we are not state clergy, we cannot use the language of politics, we use the language of Jesus. We are priests of the same blessed servant of God, to put an end to the gunfire”. In the Pope’s view, Kirill “could not be Putin’s altar child.”

The Pope said, “You cannot think that a free state can declare war on another free state. It was others who created the conflict in Ukraine.” Francis further noted that “there is not enough will for peace”. “War is terrible and we must scream,” he said. “I am pessimistic, but we must take every possible action to stop the war,” he said.

US and European weapons

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday it had hit a logistics center in the Odessa region with “high-precision missiles” with foreign weapons. “Missile weapons and ammunition from the United States and European countries were destroyed.” The attack was carried out with Onyx missiles from the Black Sea coast. During the week, the Russian Defense had already announced that it would attack a warehouse with weapons sent by the Americans and Europeans to reinforce the Ukrainian army.

According to Russia, between yesterday and today, “69 strongholds of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment” were hit. The ministry also claims that 230 Ukrainian soldiers were killed.

Russia is said to have attacked the Kharkiv, Kherson and Donetsk regions as well as Odessa. The Russian Defense also accused Ukraine of “using civilian infrastructure for military purposes, hiding it behind civilians as a “human shield”. Russia said in Kharkiv that “nationalists were forcibly holding civilians in the basement of a hospital”. Information could not be verified with independent sources.

changing

The Ukrainian Armed Forces said it believes Russia has “taken steps to compensate for significant losses of equipment” in its military. According to the Ukrainians, from April 27 to May 2, at least 17 Russian tanks were sent to the territory of Ukraine, in addition to 60 armored personnel carriers.

According to Ukraine, in addition to continuing to “bomb the city of Kharkov and nearby areas”, “the Russian enemy opened active fire on the Ukrainian troops in the direction of Izium”. The military administration of Sumi, which is close to the Russian border, reported that mortar attacks were carried out in the region on Tuesday. According to local authorities, at least nine people were killed in attacks in the Donetsk region. In Zaporizhzhia, the local government pointed to the death of two people after the bombing.

The Ukrainian army also drew attention to its resistance by repelling 12 attacks in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. “In the last 24 hours [entre a manhã de ontem e o início de hoje, no horário local]Six tanks, five artillery systems, 22 armored combat vehicles and eight enemy vehicles were destroyed.

Ukrainian Presidential Adviser Mykhailo Podolyak released images of the bodies found in the city of Kalynivka, about 35 kilometers from Kiev, today. His hands were tied.

“Russia has chosen the path of terror of the civilian population and should be recognized as the sponsor of terrorism,” he said.

“Long Term effect”

UK Defense Ministry intelligence, an ally of the Ukrainians, said it believed Russian forces were “significantly weak, both materially and conceptually, as a result of their invasion of Ukraine”. “The recovery from this will be made worse by sanctions. This will have a lasting impact on Russia’s ability to deploy conventional military forces.”

For the British, although it has increased its investments in the military field in recent years, Russia has not been able to take advantage of equipment modernization to dominate Ukraine. “Failures in both strategic planning and operational implementation have resulted in its inability to turn digital power to decisive advantage.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised more military and financial aid in a video speech to the Ukrainian Parliament today. Johnson’s speech was accompanied by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the scene.

“Democracy against tyranny. Freedom against oppression. Law versus lawlessness. Good versus bad. That’s why Ukraine must win. And it will win,” Johnson said.

(with AFP, Ansa and Reuters)