Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his forces not to storm the last remaining Ukrainian fortress in the besieged city of Mariupol on Thursday, but instead to block it “so that not a fly passes”.
His defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, said the rest of the city beyond the vast Azovstal steel plant, where Ukrainian forces were stationed, had been “liberated” – as Russian authorities called areas of Ukraine they had occupied. Putin hailed this as a “success”.
But leaving the plant in Ukrainian hands deprives the Russians of the opportunity to declare complete victory in Mariupol, which has witnessed some of the most dramatic battles of the war and whose capture has both strategic and symbolic significance.
The scale of the suffering there has made it a focal point worldwide, and its final fall will deprive Ukraine of a vital port, complete the land bridge between Russia and the Crimean peninsula, and free Russian troops to move elsewhere in Donbass.
Shoigu said the plant was “probably blocked”.
Putin’s and Shoigu’s comments appear to reflect a change in strategy in Mariupol, where the Russians previously seemed determined to take every inch of the city. But it was not clear what that would mean in practice.
The evacuees are waiting before boarding a bus to leave the southern port city of Mariupol on Wednesday. (Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters)
Ukrainian authorities did not comment on recent remarks, but said earlier that four civilian buses had escaped the city after several failed attempts. Thousands more remain in the city, many of which have been reduced to smoldering ruins in a nearly two-month siege, fearing more than 20,000 people have died.
The leaders of Spain and Denmark are visiting Kyiv
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk said a new attempt would be made on Thursday to evacuate civilians from Mariupol, although it was unclear how recent comments would affect that.
In Kyiv, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Danish Mete Frederiksen became the last European leaders to show support with a visit to the capital. They were to meet with President Vladimir Zelensky, who warned in a video message last night that the Russians “do not abandon their attempts to celebrate at least some kind of victory by launching a new, large-scale offensive.”
“The West stands together to support the Ukrainian people,” Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, said in a statement.
The Kremlin, meanwhile, said it had submitted a draft of its demands to end the war, and the West was vying to supply Ukraine with heavier weapons to counter Russia’s new bid to take over the industrial east.
Soldiers from the Donetsk People’s Republic’s militia pass damaged cars in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol on Tuesday. (Alexei Alexandrov / Associated Press)
The British Ministry of Defense said in an assessment that Russia probably wants to demonstrate significant success before its annual celebrations on Victory Day on May 9. “This could affect how quickly and violently they try to carry out operations on the eve of this date.
Mass graves discovered in a city near Kyiv
As fears of the fate of civilians in Mariupol grow, regional police in Kyiv said on Thursday that two mass graves with nine bodies had been found in the town of Borodyanka, northwest of the capital. The findings add to the thousands of civilians reported killed by Russian forces who are accused of mass abusing Ukrainians.
Kiev Regional Police Chief Andriy Nebitov said two women and a teenager were among “civilians killed by the Russian occupiers”.
“I want to emphasize that these people are civilians. “The Russian military has deliberately fired on civilians who do not offer any resistance or pose a threat,” Nebitov said, adding that some of the victims had apparently been tortured.
Vova, 10, is looking after his mother Marina’s grave while his father, Ivan Drahun, prays at her funeral in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Wednesday. Vova’s mother died while they were sheltered in a cold basement for more than a month during the Russian army’s occupation. (Emilio Morenati / Associated Press)
With growing global tensions, Russia has announced the first successful launch of a new type of intercontinental ballistic missile, the Sarmat. President Vladimir Putin boasted that he could overcome any missile defense system and make those who threaten Russia “think twice.” The head of Russia’s state aerospace agency called the northern launch a “gift to NATO.”
The Pentagon described the test as “routine” and said it was not considered a threat.
On the battlefield, Ukraine said Moscow continued to carry out attacks in the east, investigating weaknesses in Ukraine’s defensive lines. Russia has said it has carried out hundreds of missile and air strikes on targets involving concentrations of troops and vehicles.
The Kremlin’s stated goal is to take over Donbass, a predominantly Russian-speaking eastern region home to coal mines, metal plants and heavy equipment factories. Separating from the rest of Ukraine will give Putin a much-needed victory two months after the war, after an unsuccessful attempt to storm the capital, Kyiv.
WATCH Ukraine is taking action to remove explosive devices left by the retreating Russians:
Ukraine’s efforts to remove mine traps left by Russian troops
In the Ukrainian region of Kyiv, which Russian troops left, crews began the diligent task of searching for and removing thousands of explosive devices placed in homes and in the countryside. 4:31
The UK Ministry of Defense has said that Russian forces are advancing from the Donbass region to Kramatorsk, which continues to suffer from constant rocket attacks.
The governor of Luhansk said Russian forces control 80 percent of his region, which is one of the two that make up Donbass. Prior to Russia’s invasion on February 24, the Kyiv government controlled 60% of the Luhansk region.
Governor Sergei Haidai said the Russians, after capturing the small town of Kremina, are now threatening the towns of Rubezhne and Popasna. He called on all residents to evacuate immediately.
“The occupiers control only parts of these cities that are unable to break through to the centers,” Haidai told the Telegram news app.
Natalia Titova, 62, is holding a blanket donated by a local NGO as she shows off her house, which was destroyed by Russian shelling, in Chernihiv on April 9th. (Zohra Bensemra / Reuters)
Analysts say the offensive in the east could turn into a war of attrition as Russia faces Ukraine’s most experienced, battle-hardened troops fighting pro-Moscow separatists in Donbass for eight years.
Russia has said it has presented Ukraine with a draft document outlining its demands for an end to the conflict, days after Putin said talks were deadlocked.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “the ball is in their court, we are waiting for an answer.” He did not give details about the project, and it was unclear when it was sent and whether it offered anything new to Ukrainians who submitted their own requests last month.
Zelensky said he had not seen or heard of the proposal, although one of his top advisers said the Ukrainian side was considering it.
Moscow has long urged Ukraine to withdraw any bid to join NATO. Ukraine has said it will agree to this in exchange for security guarantees from other countries. Other sources of tension include the status of both the Crimean peninsula, seized by Moscow in 2014, and eastern Ukraine, where separatists have declared independent republics recognized by Russia.
Heavy bombs dropped on Mariupol steel
Earlier this week, Ukraine said the Russians dropped heavy bombs to level off what was left of the Azovstal steel plant.
Several thousand Ukrainian soldiers, according to Russians, remained in the plant, and its maze of tunnels and bunkers spans about 11 square kilometers. Zelenski said about 1,000 civilians were also trapped.
A Ukrainian who is apparently at the plant posted a video on Facebook, urging world leaders to help evacuate people from the plant, saying: “We have more than 500 wounded soldiers and hundreds of civilians with us, including women and children.”
The officer introduced himself as Sergei Volinsky of the 36th Marine Brigade and warned: “This may be our last appeal. We may only have a few days or hours left. ” The authenticity of the video cannot be verified independently.
WATCH The Ukrainian commander in Mariupol appealed for help from the world:
The Ukrainian commander in Mariupol calls for help from the world
Major Sergei Volina, commander of Ukraine’s 36th Separate Marine Brigade, has called for help against Russian forces in the last days or hours of the unit’s battle in Mariupol. 0:24
Russia has repeatedly issued ultimatums to the defenders to surrender, but the Ukrainians have ignored them.
It is estimated that a total of more than 100,000 people have been trapped in Mariupol with little food, water, medicine or heat. The population of the city before the war was 400,000 people.
Zelensky’s adviser Mikhail Podoliak said on Twitter that he and other Ukrainian negotiators were ready to hold unconditional talks to save the lives of trapped defenders of Mariupol and civilians. There was no immediate response from Russia.
The evacuees raised their hands as they waited before boarding a bus to leave Mariupol on Wednesday. (Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters) Locals walk past a ruined apartment building in Mariupol on Wednesday. (Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters)
Weeks in basements
Elsewhere, some residents of the eastern city of Kharkov have been living in basements for weeks, trying to protect themselves from Russian shelling. Without running water, gas or electricity, they collect rainwater and cook over an open fire, burning debris from destroyed wooden buildings.
In one neighborhood, they sought safety in a school basement – using …
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