Ukraine: Some 100 civilians remain in Azovstal – Sirens in Luhansk, Kharkiv and Dnipro

Damaged buildings were found Tuesday in Ukraine’s southern port of Odessa, a day after Russian forces pounded it with rockets and as Russia celebrated Victory Day over Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. In a speech in Moscow’s Red Square, Russian President Vladimir Putin recalled the memory of Soviet war heroism to inspire his army fighting in Ukraine, but did not provide information on the course of the war and acknowledged that Russian soldiers had been lost in the war. battles with Ukrainian forces. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a statement on the anniversary of May 9, promised that the Ukrainians would triumph, saying: “The road is difficult, but we have no doubt that we will win.”

What is happening on Ukrainian soil

Ukraine’s defense ministry says Russian-backed tanks and artillery are conducting “raid operations” at the steel plant Azofstal in Mariupolwhere the last defenders of the city have taken refuge

About a hundred civilians are still at the besieged Azofstal steel plant in Mariupol, the head of the local government said.

Pavlo Kirilenko said last night that there were civilians in the vast area of ​​the facility, in addition to the 100,000 inhabitants in other areas of the city, which has suffered enormous damage.

“It is difficult to assess who among them wants to leave the city,” Kirilenko, a strategically important port on the Ukrainian coast of the Sea of ​​Azov, was quoted as saying by the Ukrainian newspaper Pravda.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Verestsuk assured at the weekend that all the women, children and the elderly who had taken refuge in the basement of the factory had been evacuated from Azofstal.

The facility is the last area of ​​the city not yet occupied by Russian forces.

In Odessaone of the most important ports of the Black Sea for the export of agricultural products, one person was killed and five were injured when seven rockets hit a shopping center and a warehouse, the Ukrainian armed forces said on Facebook.

Airstrikes and rockets interrupted a meeting between European Council President Charles Michel, who was visiting Odessa, and Ukrainian Prime Minister Dennis Smihal, forcing them to go to a bomb shelter.

In some eastern regions of Ukraine, the Luhanskthe Kharkiv and Dniproair raid sirens were heard early Tuesday.

The Ukrainian military said yesterday that Russia was holding back some of its forces within its borders to prevent a Ukrainian counterattack that has made some progress east of the country. Kharkiv. Inside Ukraine, the General Staff says the most intense activity is in its territory Donetskwhere Russian forces are trying to advance towards the city Portan important transport hub.

In the Russian-occupied southern city Hersonissos, incessant bombing has turned buildings into ruins. In the nearby villages, the fields are covered with debris. But many residents can not leave according to CNN.

The United States is “seeing signs” that Ukrainians are being displaced against their will in Russia

Pentagon spokesman John Kerby said Monday that the United States was “seeing signs” that Ukrainians were being transferred to Russia against their will.

“Of course we have seen indications that Ukrainians are being transferred to Russia, I can not say how many camps there are or what they look like,” Kerby told accredited authors at the Pentagon.

“But we have indications that Ukrainians are being displaced against their will in Russia,” he said, calling it “outrageous” as opposed to “responsible force”.

“You do not have to look far to see evidence of Russian barbarism,” the Pentagon spokesman said. “Every time you think that (the Russians) can not fall lower, they prove to you that you are wrong,” he added.

On Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that about 1.16 million Ukrainians have been transferred from their homeland to Russia since the Russian military invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, including about 205,000 children.

Kyiv and Washington complain that Moscow is involuntarily deporting Ukrainian citizens and not allowing them to return to territories controlled by the Ukrainian government. Russia denies it, saying the purpose of the civilian movement is to save it from hostilities, especially in the eastern part of the country.

Source: Capital

You may also like