The UN announced on Thursday (5) that a new convoy has been sent to rescue civilians from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance, despite Ukraine accusing Russia of failing to comply with the unilateral ceasefire it promised to facilitate the evacuation.
“We still have to evacuate civilians, women and children from there,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a daily afternoon speech. Think about it… more than two months of continuous bombing and constant death.
Information about the steel mill in this port city, which was the main target of Moscow’s offensive to unite the areas under its control in eastern and southern Ukraine, is conflicting.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was “willing” to ensure a “safe” evacuation of civilians, but urged Kiev to order militias still at the factory to “put down their weapons”.
Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the humanitarian corridors were “working” to evacuate civilians protected in the steel mill’s 200-kilometer-long tunnels, which local officials say will be around 200 kilometers long.
Peskov also assured that the Russian army respects the ceasefire, which, according to the official statement, is expected to last three days.
But Olexiy Arestovich, a senior adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, said that the Russians who entered the complex were repulsed without providing further details, claiming that the information he had was contradictory.
Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Ukrainian Azov battalion, reported on “bloody clashes” in a video, accusing the troops of “violating the ceasefire promises”.
Despite uncertainties about the situation, the UN has announced that a convoy of vehicles is on its way to Azovstal, where it will arrive on Friday morning to evacuate.
– Putin’s plans thwarted by the West – After two months of siege and bombing, the total conquest of Mariupol would be a major victory for Russia on the eve of May 9, when Moscow celebrated its 1945 victory over Nazi Germany with a military parade. .
Ukrainians fear that the Russians may want to organize a victory march at this strategic port south of the Donbass, a region currently largely controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
A Kremlin spokesman admitted that Western aid to Ukraine “did not allow a quick conclusion of the military operation” that began on February 24, which resulted in thousands of deaths and forced millions of Ukrainians to flee their homes.
However, Peskov added that this foreign aid “does not have the capacity” to prevent Russia from achieving its goals in the former Soviet republic with a pro-Western government.
So far, Moscow can only claim full control of Kherson, a major Ukrainian city in the south.
– One-click help to Ukraine – About 344 people were evacuated to Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia, about 230km from Mariupol and its environs, on Wednesday, according to Ukrainian President Zelensky.
One hundred civilians left Azovstal over the weekend in an operation organized by the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
But Zelensky, who asked UN Secretary-General António Guterres for help for new missions, said “there are still civilians. Women, children.”
The Ukrainian president has also launched a worldwide fundraising campaign to help his country through United24, a platform created specifically for this purpose.
“With one click, you can donate money to help our defenders, save our civilians and rebuild Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote in a video in English on Twitter. Said.
On the other hand, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki announced at the donation conference held in Warsaw that more than 6 billion euros ($6.3 billion) has been collected for Ukraine.
– Missile launch simulations – Russian forces continue their offensive, especially in the east.
The governor of the Donetsk region said that 25 civilians were injured in a bomb attack in a residential area of Kramatorsk.
The Russian military said it attacked a Ukrainian command post and two military depots at the city’s airport.
On Ukraine’s northern border, Moscow’s ally Belarus has embarked on a fourth military maneuver to test its army’s response capacity.
Moscow announced that its military has conducted simulations of nuclear-capable missile launches in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, located between Poland and Lithuania, two member states of the European Union (EU) and NATO.
– Oil embargo – The European Commission proposed a gradual embargo on oil imported from Russia on Wednesday, but with the exception of Hungary and Slovenia, the two countries are completely dependent on Russian resources and may continue to buy oil from Russia in 2023.
But Hungary, the EU country closest to Putin, rejected the proposal “in its current form”, claiming it would “completely destroy the country’s energy security”.
The British government announced that the assets of the steel group Evraz, whose main shareholder is millionaire Roman Abramovich, are frozen.
In the diplomatic field, the president of Ukraine invited the President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the head of government Olaf Scholz to Kiev.
The UN Security Council will hold a special meeting on Ukraine on Thursday.
source: Noticias
