On the 56th day of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin’s troops are intensifying their offensive in the east and south of the country, while the strategic port of Mariupol seems very close to falling into Russian hands after almost two months of seat. At the same time, a humanitarian corridor has been set up for the first time since Saturday, an agreement having been reached between the Russians and the Ukrainians on Wednesday.
Mariupol close to falling into Russian hands
After almost two months of siege, the strategic Ukrainian port of Mariupol seems this Wednesday close to falling into Russian hands. “We may be living our last days, even our last hours,” said on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, in a video posted on his Facebook account, a commander of Ukrainian soldiers who are still resisting in the vast Azovstal steelworks. , the last island of resistance in Mariupol.
“The enemy is 10 times more numerous than us. We call on and beg all world leaders to help us. We ask them to use the extraction procedure and take us to the territory of a third country,” said Serguiy Volyna, of the 36th brigade of the national navy, on Facebook. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense meanwhile said Wednesday morning that the Russian army “focused most of its efforts on taking the city of Mariupol and continued its attempted assaults near the Azovstal steel plant”.
Russian forces intensify their offensive in the south and east
After a series of strikes claimed by Moscow on Tuesday, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reported on Wednesday morning “attempted assaults” on the localities of Sulyguivka and Dibrivne, in the Kharkiv region, as well as on Rubizhne and Severodonetsk, in the Luhansk region. The regional governor, Sergei Gaïdaï, once again called on civilians to evacuate.
“The situation is getting more complicated hour by hour,” he wrote on Telegram messaging. “Get to safety (…) Leave,” he added. According to a senior US Defense Department official, Russia has increased its military presence in eastern and southern Ukraine, bringing the total of battalions in the country to 76. Shelling was also intensifying in the south, with increased shelling of the villages of Mala Tokmashka and Orikhiv, 70 km southeast of Zaporizhia.
Putin waves the threat of Satan 2
In parallel with the fighting in Ukraine, the Russian army announced that it had successfully fired its first test of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile, a new generation weapon with very long range, nicknamed Satan 2. The large load capacity of this missile carries up to ten high-powered warheads or a combination of nuclear warheads and countermeasures designed to deceive enemy missile defenses. “It is truly a unique weapon that will boost the military potential of our armed forces, keep Russia safe from external threats and make those who try to threaten our country with wild and aggressive rhetoric think twice. “, reacted Vladimir Putin, during an announcement broadcast on television.
Norway provides military aid to Ukraine
The Norwegian government announced on Wednesday that it had donated around 100 French-designed anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine. The donation is for Mistral launchers with around 100 missiles that have been on board Norwegian Navy ships until now. Ukraine has also received fighter jets and spare parts to bolster its air force, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday, declining to specify their number or the countries that provided them. devices. After the shipment of Howitzer artillery pieces announced last week by US President Joe Biden, this announcement reflects a change in attitude on the part of Westerners, who for more than a month refused to provide Ukraine with heavy armaments to avoid any escalation of the conflict.
Failure of the humanitarian corridor
An agreement had been reached between Ukrainians and Russians to create a humanitarian corridor on Wednesday, allowing civilians to evacuate the besieged port of Mariupol. But in the evening, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced that it had not “worked as expected”. This corridor was to be the first since Saturday and was to allow the evacuation of “women, children and the elderly”.
More than a million refugees returned to Ukraine
A total of 1.1 million Ukrainians have returned to their country since the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24, Ukrainian Border Guard Service spokesman Andriy Demchenko said. However, he did not specify in what proportion these people were Ukrainians who fled the country at the start of the invasion or Ukrainians who were already living abroad before the war. Ukrainian borders were crossed by “almost five million people in both directions”, he added.