Russia acknowledged on Thursday that Western support for Kiev is prolonging its offensive in Ukraine, but insisted that it would not prevent the country from achieving its goals, amid conflicting information circulating last year about the evacuation of refugee civilians. Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol (southeast).
“The United States, the United Kingdom, NATO as a whole permanently share information with the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Together with the arms deliveries (…) these actions do not allow the operation to end quickly,” Kremlin spokesman Dmirti said. Peskov in response to a report by the New York Times on Wednesday.
According to the NYT, quoting anonymous US intelligence sources, the information provided by the US to the Ukrainian military made it possible to find several Russian generals near the front line.
A Kremlin spokesman stressed that after a 10-week war that resulted in thousands of deaths and more than five million fleeing, Western actions “do not have the capacity to prevent” the goals of the Russian offensive in Ukraine from being achieved. Ukrainians of the country
Currently, Moscow can only claim full control of Kherson, a major Ukrainian city in the south. But he hopes that after two months of siege and bombing he will be able to seize the strategic port of Mariupol.
Besieged and devastated by bombings for several weeks and practically under Russian control, Ukrainian fighters and civilians are settled in the underground passages of the massive steel complex at Azovstal.
Peskov said the humanitarian corridors were “working” to evacuate the civilians staying at the facility – about 200 people, according to the city’s mayor, Vadim Boishenko.
He said the Russian military respects the ceasefire announced on Wednesday and should last for three consecutive days.
On the Ukrainian side, the information is different with the complaints that Russia violated the ceasefire promises.
“The Russians violated the ceasefire promise and do not allow the evacuation of civilians who remained refugees along with the fighters in the underground part of the industrial complex,” Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Azov battalion, in a video posted on Telegram. Said. .
“The Russian invaders are moving to try to blockade and destroy the Ukrainian troops in the Azovstal region,” said a statement issued by the Ukrainian military a few hours ago.
According to the Kyiv Armed Forces, Moscow troops “continue the offensive with the support of aircraft to seize control of the factory”.
Denis Prokopenko, the commander of the Azov battalion, which commands the defense of the region, said in a video that Russian forces managed to penetrate the industrial complex, referring to “violent and bloody clashes”.
Zelensky launches global funding campaign
A total of 344 people had been evacuated to Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia, 230km from Mariupol, on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
More than 100 civilians left Azovstal over the weekend in an operation organized by the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
“But there are still civilians. Women and children,” said the Ukrainian president, asking UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for help in a phone call.
Full control of Mariupol could mean a major victory for Moscow, and even more importantly on the eve of May 9, when Russia celebrated its victory over Nazi Germany with a massive military parade.
Ukrainians fear that the Russians will try to organize a victory march in Mariupol.
Calling for more sanctions on Moscow and more arms shipments from Western countries to Kiev, Zelensky launched a global funding campaign Thursday to help his country through United24, a platform created for this purpose.
“With one click, you can donate money to help our defenders, save our civilians and rebuild Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote in English in a video posted on his Twitter account. Said.
deadly attacks
Russian forces continue the offensive, especially in eastern Ukraine.
The governor of the Donetsk region said that 25 civilians were injured in a bomb attack in the residential Kramatorsk district. The Russian army announced that it will attack a Ukrainian commando unit and two military depots in the city.
Moscow also reported “high-precision” missile strikes in the south, particularly against a military airfield near Kirovograd, an ammunition depot in the Mykolaiv district, and a fuel depot.
But the General Staff of Ukraine said that “thanks to the victory of the actions of the Ukrainian defenders, the enemy lost control of many settlements near the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions.”
Moscow overnight announced that its military is conducting simulations of nuclear-capable missile launches at Kaliningrad, located between two EU member states, Poland and Lithuania.
The European Union has pledged to Moldova to increase support for additional military equipment for the country’s armed forces, after recent attacks on the pro-Russian Moldovan Transnistrian territory fueled fears that the conflict would spill over to the former Soviet republic in 2020. 6 million inhabitants.
source: Noticias
