Entering the 12th day of the war in Ukraine, after the Russian invasion, it is expected that a new attempt will be made (for the third time) to evacuate the civilian population.
The Russian military will hold a temporary ceasefire from 09:00 (Ukrainian time and Greek time) today in order to open humanitarian corridors in several Ukrainian cities and to evacuate civilians, Interfax reported, citing the Russian Ministry of Defense.
According to this source, humanitarian corridors will be opened in the cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol and Sumy, at the request of French President Emanuel Macron and due to the current situation in them.
The Russian military continues its full-scale offensive in Ukraine today, bombing the country’s second largest city, Kharkiv, and tightening the noose on the capital, Kyivwhile the third round of Russian-Ukrainian negotiations is expected to take place within the day, without much hope that it will bear fruit.
The escalation of the armed conflict and the possibility of imposing an embargo on Russian oil raised the fever of international markets even more today, with oil rising rapidly, many investors choosing gold at the price of this shelter value rising , and Asian stock markets to fall.
Heavy airstrikes took place in the early hours of this morning in Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, targeting a local university sports complex and political building infrastructure, a French news agency reported.
See the testimony of SKAI’s correspondent in Kyiv, Miltos Sakellaris, who was found near the bombing site
According to the Ukrainian staff, Russian forces are concentrating their efforts in Kharkiv, Chernigiv (north), Sumy (northeast) and Mykolayev (south), while “gathering resources to launch an attack” in Kyiv.
Yesterday, Russian forces destroyed an airport in central Ukraine, while continuing to siege in Mariupolthe large port in Azov.
The following is the situation on the ground, based on the information of the journalists of the French Agency, the emergency services, the statements of Ukrainian and Russian officials, analysts, Western sources and international organizations. Moscow gives little information on the development of its military operations.
In the East
The HarkivUkraine’s second most populous city (1.4 million inhabitants), just 50 kilometers from the border with Russia, remains under Ukrainian control, according to Western observers, despite heavy Russian bombing.
Russian forces are also attacking from its separatist, pro-Russian territories Donetsk and his Luhanskbut it is unknown how much they have been promoted.
In the south
The Russians besiege the Mariupol, who still resists. A second attempt to evacuate the city, this morning, “stopped”, the International Committee of the Red Cross announced. The two sides are blaming each other for who is responsible for the failure to evacuate the civilians.
The occupation of this city would allow the Russians to join forces that had invaded from the annexed Crimea (and have already occupied the cities of Berdyansk and Kherson while threatening, to the west, Mykolaif) with the forces of the Donbass separatists.
THE Odessa, where Ukraine’s largest Black Sea port is located, remains Ukrainian and has not yet been targeted by bombing. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of preparing to bomb it.
To the west
Western Ukraine has so far escaped the fighting. Its largest city, the Λβιβnow hosts foreign diplomatic missions, journalists and Ukrainians fleeing the east seeking refuge in the west or in a neighboring country.
Zelensky said earlier that the Russians had destroyed the airport in the city of Vinnytsia, which is 200 kilometers southwest of Kiev.
Victims
Russia announced last Wednesday that 498 Its soldiers were killed in Ukraine. This was the last report given by Moscow on its losses.
Ukraine and Western observers, however, say the losses are much higher. Kyiv speaks of 11,000 dead Russian soldiers.
At least 364 civilians have been confirmed dead in Ukraine since the Russian-led invasion on February 24, and another 759 have been injured, according to the United Nations.
“Within days”
In the capital, the Ukrainian army says it is ready to destroy the last bridge connecting the city with the western provinces, to curb the advance of Russian tanks. The staff is waiting for the Russian attack “within days”.
“If we receive an order, or if we see the Russians coming forward, we will blow it up (…) with as many enemy tanks as possible,” said Sergeant Casper, a member of a Ukrainian volunteer unit.
Heavy fighting broke out all day yesterday in the Kiev region, according to local authorities, especially around the roads leading to Zhytomyr (150 km west) and Chernigiv (150 km north).
In the western suburbs of Kiev, especially in Irpin, buildings were bombed “from morning till night”, then “a tank entered”. “It was scary, we were very scared. “We thought we would not be able to leave,” said Tatiana Voznyutshenko, a 52-year-old resident of the suburb.
At the same time, the Russian army continues the siege of the strategically important port of Mariupol, in the Sea of ​​Azov, in the southeastern part of the country, where the second attempt to evacuate civilians for humanitarian reasons failed yesterday Sunday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of preparing to bomb the port of Odessa on the Black Sea.
Russian missiles fired from the sea hit the village of Tuzli, on the outskirts of Odessa, today, said a spokesman for the Ukrainian army in the area, Sergei Bratsuk. He explained that the missiles were aimed at “critical infrastructure”. No injuries were reported, however.
U.S. officials, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, said Russia had recruited Syrian mercenaries with experience in guerrilla warfare to fight in Ukraine. On the other hand, Kyiv is talking about tens of thousands of foreign “volunteers” who went to Ukraine to join the ranks of its forces.
The third round of Russian-Ukrainian talks is scheduled to take place today, but hopes for the talks’ success are slim, given that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made it a condition for Kyiv to accept all Russian demands, especially declaration of neutrality of the country.
In the previous two rounds of talks, on the Ukraine-Belarus and Poland-Belarus borders respectively, the only tangible result was the agreement to set up “humanitarian corridors” to evacuate civilians.
Nuclear (if) safety
Last night, during a telephone conversation with French President Emanuel Macron, Putin made it clear that he intended to “achieve his goals” in Ukraine, “either through negotiation or war,” according to the Elysee.
However, he assured his interlocutor that he “has no intention of launching attacks against nuclear plants” and said he was “ready to respect IAEA rules for the protection of (nuclear) plants”, while agreeing to have a “dialogue between the IAEA, Ukraine”. and Russia “in order to guarantee their” security “, always according to the announcement of the French presidency.
Following the bombing – Moscow denied it – on March 4 at the nuclear plant in Zaporizhia (southern), the largest in Ukraine and Europe, which raised concerns about nuclear disaster, the IAEA was informed by Kyiv that the plant’s address was now under the orders of Russian forces.
According to the Ukrainian authorities, only communications via mobile phones are still possible, but also those of poor quality. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi expressed “deep concern” about the “deterioration of the vital communications situation between the (Ukrainian) regulator and the station”.
The Russian military, for its part, has accused Ukraine of seeking to cause a leak of radioactivity in Kharkiv and then blaming Moscow.
During his conversation with Emanuel Macron, Vladimir Putin also again denied that the Russian army “targets civilians” and insisted that “it is up to the Ukrainians to let the population leave the besieged cities,” according to the statement. with the French Presidency.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has launched an investigation into war crimes in Ukraine, the World Health Organization says attacks on health facilities, the United States has said “credible information” that Russia has committed “war crimes” by start of the invasion on 24 February.
Speaking on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Russian military of “deliberate killings” and said “we will punish anyone who commits atrocities during this war on our soil.”
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