Ukraine War: Huge mass grave discovered near Mariupol

Created: 04/23/2022, 06:13

By: Katja Thorwarth, Christian Stör, Christoph Klaucke

Russia is said to have dug a mass grave three football fields in size near Mariupol for thousands of bodies.

• Selenskyj has hope for Mariupol

  : "The decisive battle for our state" is imminent in the Ukraine war.

• The situation in Mariupol has calmed down

  :

  Russia has declared that the port city, which was so important in the Ukraine conflict, has been conquered.

• Mariupol:

  All current developments from the strategically important port city of

  Ukraine

  in our news ticker.

+++ 6.10 a.m .:

According to the Ukrainian authorities in Mariupol, the Russian army has dug a new mass grave not far from the city.

The alleged grave can be clearly seen from satellite images.

It is therefore not far from the city's port, which was heavily contested at the beginning of the Ukraine War.

The mass grave in western Mariupol is said to be 20 times larger than that in Bucha.

The city authorities report this via Telegram.

According to this, up to 9,000 corpses would fit in a grave of this size.

"Every day in April, the occupiers dug new trenches and filled them with corpses," write the Mariupol authorities.

The bodies were "buried in several layers".

According to the US radio station National Public Radio (NPR), satellite images would also show that the grave had been enlarged in the past month.

NPR relies on information from Maxar Technologies, a service provider for satellite imagery.

The mass grave is said to be the size of three football fields.

According to information from Russia, the situation in Mariupol has calmed down

+++ 8.35 p.m .:

In the eastern Ukrainian port of Mariupol, which was badly damaged by the fighting, the situation is said to have normalized according to Russian information.

"The residents of the city have been given the opportunity to move freely on the streets again," said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

The streets were cleared of debris and broken military equipment, the remains of Ukrainian fighters and "mercenaries from the United States and European countries" were "reliably" locked up at the Azovstal steelworks site.

The reports could not be independently verified.

War in Ukraine: According to Russian information, the residents of Mariupol should again be able to move freely on the streets.

© Victor/dpa

+++ 18:25:

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Kiev of preventing the surrender of Ukrainian troops in the port city of Mariupol.

"All soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, fighters of national battalions and foreign mercenaries who have laid down their arms are guaranteed life, humane treatment in accordance with international law and quality medical care," Putin said on Friday, according to the Kremlin in a phone call with EU Council President Charles Michel.

"But the Kiev regime does not allow this opportunity to be used," Putin was quoted as saying in the Kremlin statement.

Moscow said on Thursday that Russian troops were now in control of the city, with the exception of the Azov steel industrial zone.

Putin had ordered the area to be completely sealed off.

According to EU leaders, Putin accused the Kremlin of ignoring "war crimes" committed by the Ukrainian side.

He described statements by EU representatives as "irresponsible" according to which the "situation in Ukraine must be solved by military means".

The statement left open exactly what statements Putin was referring to, but the Kremlin boss could refer to a Twitter comment by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, according to which "this war will be won on the battlefield".

Russian troops besiege a steelworks: Babies, children and the elderly are trapped – drinking water is becoming scarce

+++ 3.30 p.m .:

According to the ombudswoman Lyudmila Denisova, around 1000 people have been locked in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol for days.

These include infants, children and the elderly.

This is reported by the news portal Kyiv Independent.

In addition, 500 Ukrainian soldiers, some of whom were wounded, are inside the plant.

You're running out of drinking water.

Russian troops sealed off the area.

Earlier, President Vladimir Putin had changed his plans to storm the steelworks.

+++ 2:00 p.m .:

The Kremlin has claimed that a ceasefire at the Azovstal steel factory in Mariupol is possible “at any time”.

However, the condition for the "humanitarian break" is the surrender of the Ukrainian soldiers on site, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

War in Ukraine: Russia to prevent civilians from fleeing to Mariupol steelworks

+++ 11:00 a.m .:

Ukraine has accused Russian troops of preventing civilians from leaving the besieged steelworks in Mariupol.

"The Russians are afraid of storming Azovstal, but they are deliberately and cynically not letting civilians out," Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Friday on the Telegram news channel.

This should increase the pressure on the remaining Ukrainian soldiers in the plant to surrender.

According to Vereshchuk, the defenders of the plant and Mariupol do not want to surrender.

Ukraine war in Mariupol: Storming of the steel works would probably result in losses for Russia

+++ 9:00 a.m .:

According to an assessment by the British Ministry of Defense, a storm at the Azowstal steelworks would result in very high losses for Russia.

Putin's decision to blockade the plant reflects the Kremlin's desire to break down resistance in Mariupol.

In addition, they want to use the soldiers stationed there for attacks in other areas.

Update from Friday, April 22, 7 a.m.:

Russian soldiers should

up to 9,000 residents of the embattled city of Mariupol have buried themselves in mass graves in the city of Manhush, around 20 kilometers away.

Mayor Vadym Boychenko accused Russia of genocide and called on the international community to act, the Mariupol City Council said on Telegram.

Mass graves near Mariupol: Mayor speaks of "new Babyn Yar"

Boytschenko recalled the massacre of around 34,000 Jews in Kyiv during World War II and spoke of a "new Babyn Yar".

“At that time Hitler killed Jews, Roma and Slavs.

And now Putin is crushing Ukrainians.

He has already killed tens of thousands of civilians in Mariupol,” Boychenko was quoted as saying by the city council.

“This requires a determined response from the entire world.

We must stop this genocide by any means possible.”

Ukraine war: Selenskyj does not consider Mariupol lost - "Decisive battle is imminent"

+++ 6.35 p.m .:

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj does not yet consider the port city of Mariupol, which is now controlled by Russia according to the Kremlin, to be completely lost.

"The situation is difficult, the situation is bad," the head of state said in Kyiv on Thursday, according to journalists from local media.

There are several ways to liberate the city.

"There is a military path to prepare for, and we are preparing," said Zelenskyy.

This requires the help of western partners.

"It's difficult for ourselves, we need appropriate weapons, but let's think about it," he said.

Another way is a diplomatic, humanitarian one.

Ukraine war: Putin declares Mariupol 'liberated' - No 'fly escapes'

+++ 4.48 p.m .:

After a siege of almost two months, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the “liberation” of the strategically important Ukrainian port city of Mariupol – but at the same time admitted that the steel plant with the last Ukrainian defenders of the city was still not under Russian control.

On Thursday, Putin ordered the plant to be besieged – so tightly that “not a fly can get out”.

Ukraine war: Russia declares Mariupol 'liberated'

+++ 3.15 p.m .:

The Russian military leadership is certain: “Mariupol, which was a place of accumulation of nationalist groups, is free,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to information from the Interfax news agency.

The "special operation" is proceeding according to plan.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had previously informed Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin that the port city was under Russian control.

Ukraine war in Mariupol: Russia does not storm steelworks in Mariupol

+++ 1.30 p.m .:

Taking the Ukrainian port of Mariupol was always of great strategic importance for Russia.

The most important thing for Russian President Vladimir Putin was to create a land bridge between the eastern Donbass region and the annexed Crimean Peninsula.

But now Putin has decided not to end the conquest.

Rather, he is trying to starve out the remaining Ukrainian fighters.

According to British General Richard Barrons, it is also clear why Putin made this decision.

It would have been "really difficult" for Russia to defeat the soldiers holed up at the Azovstal Steel Works without "huge casualties on both sides."

Barrons stressed to the BBC that the battle over the factory is no longer really relevant to who controls Mariupol.

Above all, the announcement of the victory should show the own people that Russia would fight a successful fight on the eve of the Russian Orthodox Easter.

"And it allows the military to stop devoting too many resources to a militarily irrelevant battle for the steel mills and to focus on what really matters now: the battle for Donbass."

+++ 11.30 a.m .:

The Ukrainian government has requested a humanitarian corridor from Russia for the encircled Azovstal steelworks in the port city of Mariupol.

“There are about 1,000 civilians and 500 wounded soldiers there right now.

They must all be taken out of Azovstal today!” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk wrote on Telegram.

She called on the world to focus all efforts on the steel mill now.

"This is now the key point and moment for humanitarian efforts," Vereshchuk said.

Ukraine war: Putin announces victory in Mariupol

+++ 10.30 a.m .:

Mariupol has been the scene of heavy fighting since the beginning of March.

Now the Russian leadership around Vladimir Putin claims to have taken the port city.

The Russian President has already announced victory in Mariupol on TV.

However, Ukrainian troops in Mariupol are still defending the Azovstal Steel Plant.

In the meantime, Putin has also given up the plan to storm the besieged factory (see update from 9:45 a.m.).

Instead, the huge factory premises in Azovstal should be hermetically sealed off.

"I don't think the proposed storming of the industrial zone is necessary," Putin said at a televised meeting with Defense Minister Shoigu in the Kremlin.

"I'm ordering you to cancel it." Instead, Russian troops were to block the compound.

Not even a fly is allowed to enter the area undetected.

War in Ukraine: Azowstal steelworks sealed off

+++ 9.45 a.m .:

The battle for Mariupol is almost decided.

According to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the Russian military has taken control of the port city.

This was announced by Shoigu at a meeting with Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin that was broadcast on state television.

"The remaining Ukrainian combat units entrenched themselves in the industrial area of ​​the Azovstal factory," Shoigu said.

President Putin ordered not to storm the steelworks.

A corresponding order should be withdrawn.

All prisoners are guaranteed life, said the Russian President.

He spoke of a success and the "liberation of Mariupol" and ordered the military involved to be decorated.

"They are all heroes," Putin said.

Ukraine War: Battle of Mariupol nearing end

First report from Thursday, April 21, 9:00 a.m.:

Moscow/Kiev – The decision in the battle for the Ukrainian port city is imminent.

According to the leader of the Russian republic of Chechnya, the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol could fall to Russian units as early as Thursday.

"Today before or after lunch, Azovstal will be completely under the control of the Russian armed forces," Ramzan Kadyrov said on Telegram on Thursday night.

Kadyrov, whose units are fighting in Ukraine, said the Ukrainian fighters remaining at the steelworks still have a chance to surrender in the morning.

If they do, he is certain that the Russian leadership will make "the right decision."

According to Russian information, around 2,500 Ukrainian fighters and foreign mercenaries are still in the steelworks.

According to Ukrainian reports, around 1,000 civilians are said to have sought protection there.

Ukraine War: Defenders in Mariupol ask for evacuation

Earlier, the commander of the remaining marines in Mariupol said that the Ukrainian side was defending only one object, the Azovstal Steel Plant.

"The enemy outnumbers us 10 to 1," commander Serhiy Volyna said in a video message posted on Facebook.

At the same time, he asked for his fighters to be evacuated to a third country, indicating that he wanted to give up.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyj was ready for an exchange.

"We are ready to exchange our people for Russian soldiers they left behind - both corpses and wounded," said the 44-year-old.

On Wednesday evening, during talks with Russia, two representatives of the Ukrainian delegation declared their readiness to come to Mariupol to negotiate the evacuation of militants and civilians from the steel plant.

War in Ukraine: Planned evacuation from Mariupol fails again

Meanwhile, according to the Ukrainian government, a rescue of the civilian population from Mariupol failed again.

"Unfortunately, the humanitarian corridor from Mariupol did not work as planned today," Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Telegram.

The occupiers failed to get people to the agreed point in time, where buses and ambulances were waiting for them, she said.

This Thursday (April 21, 2022) there should be a new attempt.

The south-eastern Ukrainian port of Mariupol was completely surrounded by Russian troops on March 1, shortly after the start of the war.

The city and the port are largely considered to have been destroyed.

(cs/ktho with AFP/dpa)