RAccording to Ukraine, US troops are on the site of the besieged Azov steelworks Mariupol advanced. One is still in contact with the defenders, says MP David Arachamia on Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Contact with the Ukrainian soldiers at the Azov plant has been lost, however, Mariupol’s mayor Vadym Boichenko said on Ukrainian television. The authorities therefore do not know whether the Ukrainian soldiers there are “safe or not”. He reported “violent fighting” at the site.
The Azov regiment entrenched in the plant accused the Russian army on Tuesday of launching a major attack on the plant. Russia attacked the steelworks with ground troops and tanks, the Azov regiment announced on Telegram. Two women were killed and about ten other civilians injured in the bombardment that preceded the attack. The steel mill represents the last bastion of the Ukrainian fighters in the strategically important port city of Mariupol.
The AP news agency analyzed new satellite images on Wednesday that suggested fighting was ongoing. A recording by Planet Labs PBC company Wednesday morning showed black smoke billowing up one side of the facility near a canal. Buildings on the factory site had gaping holes.
According to Mayor Boichenko, about 200 civilians were still on the premises of the Azov steel plant. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday evening, 156 civilians were brought from Mariupol to Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhia during the previous evacuation operation by the UN and the Red Cross. Another evacuation campaign is planned for Wednesday, “if the security situation allows it,” said Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Wereschuk.
Moscow denied a major attack on the Azov steelworks. “There is no storming,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Almost three weeks ago, President Vladimir Putin ordered that all attacks on the steelworks be stopped.
On April 21, Putin gave the order to continue to besiege the plant – so tightly that “not a fly can get out”. Storming the complex with numerous underground tunnels made no sense, Putin said at the time.
Meanwhile, in the vicinity of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv more than a month after the withdrawal of Russian troops, more civilian bodies are found almost every day. By Wednesday, a total of 1,235 murdered civilians had been discovered, said the head of the regional administration, Olexander Pavlyuk, on Telegram on Wednesday. Of these, 282 are still unidentified. It was only on Tuesday that 20 new victims with signs of torture were brought to the morgue.
Russia is targeting infrastructure across Ukraine
According to its own statements, the Russian army has attacked neighboring Ukraine from the air a total of 77 times within one day. Up to 310 Ukrainian fighters were killed and 36 units of military equipment destroyed on Wednesday, said Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov in Moscow. The statements could not be verified independently.
According to Ukrainian information, Russia is targeting the infrastructure in the country. Oleksandr Kamyshin, head of Ukraine’s railways, said Tuesday’s attacks hit six train stations in central and western Ukraine, among others. This resulted in serious damage.
The governor of the region Dnipro, Valentin Reznichenko, also said Russian missiles hit rail infrastructure in the area. A person was injured. The train service had been interrupted. The Ukrainian military reported similar attacks in the Kirovohrad region. There was an unknown number of victims.
parts of the city Lwiw According to media reports, in the west of the country there was also no electricity after three power plants were damaged by rockets, according to Mayor Andrij Sadowyj. As a result, according to him, there were also problems with the water supply because the pumps failed due to a lack of electricity.
They were also attacked Winnyzja andnd Kirowograd in the center and Odessa in the southwest of the country. For the first time since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression on February 24, the region was also Transcarpathia was attacked with a rocket near the border with Hungary, as reported by regional governor Viktor Mikita in the online service Telegram.
According to the Kiev leadership, Russia wants to stop the supply of western weapons with the rocket attacks on Ukrainian railway lines. This was written by the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, on Telegram on Tuesday evening. But it will not be possible to stop the supply of armaments, said Yermak. “It all matters.”
Politically, President Volodymyr Zelenskyj interpreted the attacks as a sign of Moscow’s impotence. “Obviously, the Russian military reacted extremely nervously to our successes today,” said Zelenskyy in his evening video address in Kyiv. However, a clear military target could not be identified when even Transkapatia in the extreme west on the border with Hungary was being shelled. The Russians only concealed their powerlessness “because Ukraine is too strong for them,” said Zelenskyy.
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