- Putin leads the celebrations of the Soviet victory in World War II
- Ukraine says missiles have hit the southern port of Odessa
- Russian forces storm steel mining Azovstal
- Zelensky says Ukraine’s victory is assured
Kyiv / KHARKIV, Ukraine, May 10 (Reuters) – Buildings in Odessa lay in ruins on Tuesday, a day after Kremlin forces hit the southern Ukrainian port with missiles and Russian President Vladimir Putin held provocative celebrations marking the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. in World War II.
As Putin remained silent about plans to escalate in Ukraine, the battle with the renewed push of Russian forces on Monday to defeat the last Ukrainian troops staying at the steel plant in ruined Mariupol did not stop.
“You are fighting for the Motherland, for its future, so that no one forgets the lessons of World War II. So that there is no place in the world for executioners, executioners and Nazis,” Putin said.
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
I’m registering
In his own speech Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pledged Ukrainians to triumph.
“On the Day of Victory over Nazism, we are fighting for a new victory. The road to it is difficult, but we have no doubt that we will win, “Zelenski said.
In Odessa, the main Black Sea port for agricultural exports, one person was killed and five were injured when seven rockets hit a shopping mall and warehouse, Ukraine’s armed forces said on Facebook.
Videos from the scene show firefighters and rescuers combing piles of rubble, flooding still-smoking debris.
Ukraine, a major producer of corn and wheat, and its allies have stepped up efforts to unblock ports or provide alternative routes for exporting grain, wheat and corn.
European Council President Charles Michel visited Odessa on Monday, then called for a global response to help Ukraine.
The meeting between Michel and Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmihal in Odessa was interrupted by a rocket attack, forcing the men to enter a bomb shelter, according to Shmihal’s official Twitter account.
In the town of Bogodukhov, northwest of Kharkiv, four people were killed and several houses destroyed in Russian attacks, local media reported, citing Kharkiv officials.
In some eastern regions of Ukraine, Luhansk, Kharkiv and the Dnieper, air raid sirens could be heard early Tuesday.
Ukraine’s defense ministry says Russian forces, backed by tanks and artillery, are conducting “assault operations” at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, where hundreds of Ukrainian defenders have been under siege for months.
Mariupol lies between the Crimean peninsula, captured by Moscow in 2014, and parts of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russian-backed separatists. Taking over the city would allow Moscow to connect the two areas.
“REVISIONIST DISINFORMATION”
More than 5.5 million Ukrainians have fled their country since Russia’s invasion on February 24, according to the United Nations, which called it the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.
However, Moscow’s profits from the invasion are slow at best, and there is nothing to show for it outside the strip of territory to the south and insignificant profits to the east.
US President Joe Biden said he was worried that Putin “has no way out at the moment and I am trying to figure out what we are doing about it”.
Sources say the US Democrats have agreed on a $ 40 billion aid proposal for Ukraine, including a massive new weapons package. Read more
The White House had earlier described Putin’s remarks during Victory Day as “a revisionist story that took the form of misinformation.”
The Soviet victory in World War II gained almost religious status in Russia under Putin, who called for the memory of the “Great Patriotic War” during what he called a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Western countries see this as a false analogy to justify unprovoked aggression.
“There can be no day of victory in Ukraine, only dishonor and certain defeat,” said British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.
In Poland, the Russian ambassador was surrounded by protesters at a memorial ceremony and covered in red paint. Ambassador Sergei Andreev, with a dirty face and a dirty shirt, said he was “proud of my country and my president.”
Sheltering at a metro station in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second Russian-speaking city, which has been mercilessly bombed since the early days of the war, World War II survivor Vira Mikhailovna, 90, buried her tear-stained cheeks in her hands.
“I didn’t think it could ever happen to us,” she said. “This day used to be a big holiday.”
Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com
I’m registering
Additional reports by Alexander Kozhuhar in Lviv, Ronald Popeski in Winnipeg, Lydia Kelly in Melbourne and Reuters bureaus; Written by Rami Ayub and Lincoln Fest; Edited by Himani Sarkar
Our standards: Thomson Reuters’ principles of trust.
Add Comment