Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that “what happened in Ukraine is a tragedy”, but there was no alternative. “There was no other choice, the only question was when to start. That’s all,” Putin said, according to a report by the Russian news agency Tass. He had said earlier that a confrontation with Ukraine was inevitable, it was just a matter of time. “The right step, there was no other choice.”

The statement was made after meeting with his ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Putin said he sees Russia, Ukraine and Belarus as a “tripartite people”. The Russian said that he always treated Belarus like a brother. “And nothing has changed here in the last few months. We had no doubt that if someone backed us up, that person would be Beralus,” he said. The three countries were part of the Soviet Union, which broke up in the 1990s.

Today, the Russian war in Ukraine has reached its 48th day with new attacks on eastern Ukraine, which is Russia’s current focus, but Ukraine’s attention is turned further south, to the port city of Mariupol. On Tuesday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said at least 50 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in an “unsuccessful attempt to escape” from Mariupol.

The port city in southern Ukraine, which has been under de facto siege since the beginning of the Russian invasion, is currently one of the main concerns of the Ukrainian government, which is assessing the possibility of a chemical attack in the region. The possibility is also being considered by Ukraine’s allies, such as the UK and the US.

According to a statement from the Russian ministry, yesterday (11), “a group of Ukrainian soldiers with up to 100 people in armored vehicles” tried to leave the city to the north.

“This attempt to break through with air and artillery strikes failed. Three Ukrainian tanks, five infantry fighting vehicles, seven vehicles and up to 50 people were destroyed,” Russian Defense said in a statement today. Said. 42 Ukrainian soldiers voluntarily laid down their weapons and surrendered,” he said. Information could not be confirmed by independent sources.

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense (12) did not confirm the deaths of the military, in a report released on Tuesday. The mention of the port city, which was considered a strategic point in the war, was related to the fact that “in the future the enemy will try to take control of the city of Mariupol”. Yesterday, the Ukrainian army stated that they feared the fall of Mariupol, complaining about “lack of ammunition, food, water, doing the possible and the impossible”.

Joyful Russians surround Mariupol it would take weeks, and the capture of the city would allow him to consolidate his territorial conquests along the coastline along the Sea of ​​Azov, thereby linking his territories. Donbassseparatists, with the Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

On Tuesday, Putin acknowledged Russia’s ally Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko on his agenda to commemorate Cosmonautics Day in eastern Russia.

Putin said the special operation, which he called the war on Ukrainian soil, was aimed at helping people in Ukraine’s separatist regions. The Russian President claimed that the Ukrainian government “refuses to abide by the Minsk agreements aimed at finding a peaceful solution to the country’s problems”. Donbass“. The accords sought to calm eastern Ukraine in separatist areas.

The Russian leader also stated that “the military operation will continue until the full conclusion and fulfillment of the determined tasks” and that “the war went according to plan and did not progress faster, as Russia wanted to minimize losses.” “.

According to the Russian news agency Tass, the Russian president also said that “the goals are absolutely understandable, noble” and that the main aim is to “help” people in separatist areas. Putin said it was impossible to isolate “such a large country” regarding sanctions against Russia. That is why Belarus stressed the importance of cooperation.

Lukashenko said Putin can count on Belarus “in any case, no matter what”. meeting belarusian It took about three hours with Putin.

The Russian President said the “special operations” were proceeding as planned and proceeding “calmly”.

Our task is to achieve the set goals, to minimize losses. We will act in harmony and calmly according to the plan proposed by the General Staff from the very beginning.
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia

According to UK Ministry of Defense intelligence, “Russian forces continue to withdraw from Belarus for redeployment to support operations in eastern Ukraine.” The British predict that fighting in eastern Ukraine will intensify over the next two or three weeks.

chemical weapons

Britain is also trying to confirm the information that Russia used chemical weapons in the port city of Mariupol.

Ukrainian lawmaker Ivanna Klympush said Russia was using an “unknown substance” in Mariupol and the population was suffering from respiratory problems. “Probably chemical weapons,” she tweeted. In a message sent by the Telegram app, the deputy mayor of Mariupol explained that the chemical attack is “currently unconfirmed”. “We are waiting for official information from the army,” said Petro Andryushchenko.

“There is a theory that it could be phosphorus ammunition,” said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar.

Earlier, the Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian force, reported on Telegram that a Russian drone had dropped a “toxic substance” on Ukrainian soldiers and civilians in Mariupol. People have respiratory and neurological problems, the group said.

The US Pentagon stated that it was aware of this information but could not confirm such an attack in the besieged city on the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov. Eduard Basurin, a senior official for the pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk region, told Russian news agency RIA Novosti that his forces could “employ chemical troops that could find a way to escape the moles from their nests”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the statement showed that Russian forces were “preparing a new stage of terror against Ukraine and our defenders”. “We take this as seriously as possible,” Zelensky said in a video message yesterday. Said.

attacks in the east

Ukraine’s emergency service reported attacks in the Lugansk regions – in the cities of Novodruzhesk and Rubizhne – and in Dnipropetrovsk – in the city of Pavlograd.

According to the report, residential buildings were hit in these eastern Ukrainian regions. There have been no reports of any injuries so far.

In Lysychansk in the Lugansk region, one person was killed and three others were injured in a bomb attack on a residential area, according to regional governor Serhii Gaidai.

The Dnipropretovsk government also pointed out that a mill in the town of Synelnykove was bombed. There was no injury.

Governor Oleg Sinegubov reported that a 16-storey building was attacked in the Kharkov region, the second largest city in Ukraine. According to him, there were eight deaths.

According to the military administration of the region, there was an infrastructure facility in western Ukraine, in the city of Kmenytsky, which was attacked by missiles. There were no casualties.

corpses in Kiev

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine announced on Tuesday that the bodies of six people shot dead in a basement in the eastern suburb of Kiev have been found. An investigation into the incident has been opened.

(with Reuters, AFP, Ansa and DW)