The beginning of the end of the battles in Mariupol; Moscow announced today that 265 Ukrainian soldiers surrendered which were fortified in the huge Azovstal steel plant, the last pocket of resistance against the Russian army, in this strategic port in southern Ukraine, in the Sea of Azov.
On the 83rd day of the war, this development makes it inevitable complete occupation of Mariupol by the Russian army, which is almost completely destroyed after about three months of incessant fighting and bombing. Occupying Mariupol would allow Russian forces to facilitate cross-border Crimea (south) and Donbass (east).
Following is an update on the developments of the war in Ukraine until 20:00 Greek time based on information from its correspondents French Agency and Reutersfrom official statements of Ukrainian and Russian officials, Western sources, analysts and international organizations.
Eastern Ukraine
In the Severodonetska city that has become the regional capital for Ukrainians since pro-Russian separatist forces took part in Donbass in 2014, “at least 10 people were killedIn Russian bombing, the city governor announced today.
This city is almost surrounded by Russian soldiers.
Despite calls from Ukrainian authorities to evacuate Lisikansk, which is separated from Sheverodonetsk by only one river, the Seversky Donetsk, and which is regularly bombed, more than 20,000 civilians – up from 100,000 before the war – remain there, according to volunteers distributing aid in the area.
Northeastern Ukraine
The Ukrainians regained control of part of the border with Russia in its territory Kharkov, according to Kyiv. Unleashed units from the area are expected to reinforce Russian troops in Donbas.
Southern Ukraine
The soldiers who left Azovstal in Mariupol “fulfilled the battle mission”, the Ukrainian General Staff announced. Their commanders were instructed to “save the lives” of those who remained. “Unfortunately, today Ukraine can not liberate Azovstal by military means,” the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced that 265 fighters “surrendered their weapons and were taken prisoner. Of those, 51 were seriously injured. “
“Everyone who needs medical help is sent to the Novoazovsk hospital,” he said. The ministry did not report a prisoner exchange, unlike in Ukraine.
The Russian Parliament will consider to ban the exchange of Russian prisoners of war with fighters of the Ukrainian Azov Battalionsaid today the chairman of the State Duma, after the surrender of Ukrainian defenders of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol to the Russian forces.
North and West
Eight people were killed and 12 were injured today from a Russian blow to Dessnaa Ukrainian village about 60 km north of Kiev and is known to host a large training camp.
“Eight dead, 12 injured,” Alexander Iftchenko, a spokesman for the local branch of the emergency services, told AFP.
Russian long-range Kalibr missiles near the Starichi railway station in the Lviv region destroyed loads of US and European military equipment destined for Donbass and killed Ukrainian reservists, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
He also confirmed the blow to Desna and another training camp in Ochtyrka, in the Sumy region (north).
NATO
The Kremlin has stepped up warnings of possible NATO enlargement to Finland and Sweden.
The two Nordic countries officially announced that they will submit their candidacies together on Wednesday, despite the prolonged shadow of blocking the process by Turkey.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that such accessions were not an “immediate threat” but that “the development of military infrastructure in the territories of these countries will (certainly) lead to a response.”
European Union
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba was in Brussels today to discuss new sanctions against Russia.
The European Union must send a message to Hungary to press Budapest to agree to an embargo on Russian oil imports, it said yesterday.
Diplomatic developments
The Ukrainian president Zelensky announced today that it had a “long and substantial” telephone conversation with its French counterpart Emanuel Macron about the war in Ukraine.
During the information marathon with the participation of Ukrainian television networks, according to the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform, adviser to the Ukrainian president Michael Pontoliak He said Ukraine considered it unacceptable to give the Russians some of its territories in order to achieve peace.
The peace talks between Ukraine and Russia are “paused” because Moscow does not show any kind of “understanding” of the situation, Pontoliak also complained.
ICC
The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) today announced the deployment in Ukraine of a team of 42 investigators and experts, in the most important mission in terms of personnel ever sent on the spot, to investigate the crimes committed during the Russian invasion .
“I confirm today that my office has sent a team of 42 investigators, forensic pathologists and other support staff to Ukraine,” Karim Khan said in a statement, adding that this was “the most important mission in terms of potential that has never been developed on the ground in a single time “.
Tens of thousands dead
There is no overall estimate of civilian deaths in the war. In Mariupol alone, Ukrainian authorities spoke of 20,000 dead weeks ago. Ukrainian investigators say they have identified “more than 8,000 cases” of alleged war crimes.
At the military level, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense estimates the number of Russian casualties at 27,700 since the invasion began on February 24. Western sources point to a much larger number of dead Russian soldiers. The Kremlin, meanwhile, is talking only about “significant losses.”
President Zelensky has reported that between 2,500 and 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and about 10,000 wounded. Independent and reliable data are not available.
Displaced and refugees
More than six million Ukrainians have fled the country, more than half of them – 3.27 million – to Poland, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which notes, however, that these refugee flows have have decreased significantly in recent weeks and have even been reversed.
The overall tally is 5.9 million people who have left the country for 1.56 million to return, according to border guards.
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