6:25 a.m. BST 6:25 a.m.
Intensification of fighting in eastern Ukraine, says the UK Ministry of Defense
Fighting in eastern Ukraine will intensify over the next two to three weeks as Russia continues to redirect its efforts in the region, the British Ministry of Defense said.
The latest British intelligence report, released shortly after 6 a.m. GMT, reads:
Fighting in eastern Ukraine will intensify over the next two to three weeks as Russia continues to reorient its efforts there.
Russian attacks remain focused on Ukrainian positions near Donetsk and Luhansk, with further fighting around Kherson and Nikolaev and renewed pressure on Kramatorsk.
Russian forces continue to withdraw from Belarus to move to support operations in eastern Ukraine.
Ministry of Defense @ (@DefenceHQ)
Last update of the Defense Intelligence on the situation in Ukraine – April 12, 2022
Learn more about the UK government’s response: https://t.co/kt8tMUxq3P
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/vGy3y0iSjJ
April 12, 2022
6:14 PM BST 6:14 AM
Zelenski warns of “new stage of terror” amid allegations of chemical weapons attack
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed concern that Russian forces could use chemical weapons in Ukraine, but did not confirm whether they were used in his daily video message late Monday.
Zelensky said Russia claims its forces can use chemical weapons against Mariupol defenders, and he takes the allegations seriously.
Today, the occupiers issued a new statement testifying to their preparations for a new phase of terror against Ukraine and our defenders.
One of the occupiers’ mouthpieces said they could use chemical weapons against Mariupol defenders. We take this as seriously as possible.
“I would like to remind world leaders that the possibility of the use of chemical weapons by the Russian military has already been discussed. “Even then, this meant that it was necessary to react much more firmly and more quickly to Russian aggression,” he added.
“New stage of terror”: Zelensky expresses concern over possible attack with chemical weapons – video
Ukrainian authorities said Monday night that a Russian drone had dropped a toxic substance over the southeastern city of Mariupol late Monday night.
Ivanna Klympush, a Ukrainian lawmaker and chairwoman of Ukraine’s parliamentary committee on EU integration, said the unknown substance was “most likely” a chemical weapon.
Klimpus claims that the attack took place around 10 pm local time, writing on Twitter: “This morning the Russians threatened to use” chemical troops “against the defenders of Mariupol.”
“The victims are experiencing respiratory failure, vestibular-atactic syndrome. Most likely chem. [chemical] weapons! “she added.
The alarm was raised for the first time by Ukraine’s Azov Regiment, a unit of Ukraine’s National Guard, which said the chemicals of “unknown origin” had been dropped on civilians by drones. In an update to the Telegram, the regiment said:
Russian occupation forces used a poisonous substance of unknown origin against Ukrainian military and civilians in the city of Mariupol, which was shot down by enemy UAVs.
The victims have respiratory failure, vestibulo-atactic syndrome. The consequences of the use of an unknown substance are being clarified. “
Azov leader Andriy Biletsky told the Kyiv Independent that three people have signs of chemical poisoning, but there appear to be no “catastrophic consequences” for their health.
6:03 AM BST 6:03 AM
According to the UN, 4.8 million Ukrainian children have been displaced
Nearly 5 million children – two-thirds of all Ukrainian children – have fled their homes in the six weeks since Russia’s invasion, the UN Children’s Agency said.
Manuel Fontaine, director of UNICEF’s emergency programs, said 4.8 million of Ukraine’s 7.5 million children had been displaced in such a short time. He said it was something he had never seen happen so quickly in 31 years of humanitarian work.
“They have been forced to abandon everything – their homes, their schools and often their family members,” he told the UN Security Council. “I’ve heard stories of desperate steps parents take to get their children to safety, and children are sad that they can’t go back to school.”
The agency said it had also confirmed the deaths of 142 young people, although the number is almost certainly much higher.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN, Sergei Kislitsya, said Russia had taken more than 121,000 children out of Ukraine and reportedly drafted a bill to simplify and speed up adoption procedures for orphans and even those with parents and other relatives.
A child waits on the train to Poland at Central Station on Monday, April 11, in Lviv, Ukraine. Photo: Joe Raedle / Getty Images
5:53 AM BST 5:53 AM
More than 10,000 civilians have died in Mariupol, the mayor said
More than 10,000 civilians have died in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, the mayor said.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Vadim Boychenko said the death toll could exceed 20,000, as weeks of attacks and lack of food and supplies left the bodies “strewn on the streets” in an interview with the Associated Press.
Boychenko also accused Russian forces of blocking weeks of thwarted humanitarian convoys in the city in an attempt to cover up the massacre there from the outside world.
Mariupol has been hit hard by Russian attacks and has suffered some of the most brutal attacks of the war.
Graves of killed civilians are visible next to residential buildings in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine. Photo: Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters
Boychenko gave new details about the latest allegations by Ukrainian authorities that Russian forces had brought mobile cremation equipment to Mariupol to dump the bodies of the victims of the siege.
Russian forces have taken many bodies to a huge shopping mall with warehouses and refrigerators, Boychenko said.
“Mobile crematoria have arrived in the form of trucks: you open it and there’s a pipe inside and those bodies are burned,” he said.
Speaking to South Korean lawmakers via video link Monday, Zelenski said “tens of thousands” of people were probably killed in Mariupol. It is not possible to independently verify the death toll in the besieged southeastern city, but if a figure of this magnitude is confirmed, it would be the highest death rate in any Ukrainian city or city since the start of the war.
Forces defending the besieged port city said their ammunition was running low. “Today will probably be the last battle,” the 36th Marine Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces wrote on social media. “It is death for some of us and captivity for others.”
Residents carry their belongings near destroyed buildings in Mariupol. Photo: Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters
5:43 AM BST 5:43 AM
Russia will probably try to take control of Mariupol before entering Donetsk, Ukraine says
Russian forces are likely to try to take control of the city of Mariupol before entering the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian army said.
The strategy will be part of an expected massive attack in eastern Ukraine, where Russia is believed to be trying to link occupied Crimea with Moscow-backed separatist territories of Donetsk and Luhansk in Donbas.
According to Ukraine’s latest operational report at 6 a.m. this morning, officials believe Russia is trying to regroup and relocate its troops to Belarus and Russia before launching an offensive in Donetsk.
Ukrainian forces are “surrounded and blocked,” tweeted Mikhail Podoliak, an employee of President Vladimir Zelensky’s office.
However,…
Add Comment