Putin's army before storming Azovstal?

Trapped sees situation "beyond a humanitarian catastrophe"

Created: 04/29/2022, 15:41

By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi

In the Ukraine conflict, Putin's troops apparently want to storm the Azovstal plant.

The conditions there are said to be extremely miserable.

The news ticker.

• Ukraine conflict: Russia continues its attacks on Ukrainian territory.

• Russia

  is apparently preparing to

  storm Azovstal

  : Ukrainian authorities see the cordoning off of an area in Mariupol as preparation for the storming of the steelworks.

• Commander

  reports on

  Azovstal conditions

  : A Ukrainian officer reported difficult conditions "beyond a humanitarian catastrophe".

• This

  news ticker on military developments in the Ukraine war

  is constantly updated.

  You can read the background to the Ukraine crisis here.

Update from April 29, 3:40 p.m .:

 According to media reports, the evacuation of civilians from the besieged Azovstal steelworks is planned for Friday in the completely destroyed Ukrainian port of Mariupol.

An "operation" is planned to rescue the trapped people, the Ukrainian newspaper

reported , citing a source in the presidential office.

A first attempt at evacuation on Thursday failed because Russian troops fired on a military hospital on the factory premises.

There was initially no official confirmation of the report.

The mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boychenko, expressed the hope that with the ongoing "negotiation procedures" an agreement on the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol could be reached.

According to the Ukrainian agency Unian, Boychenko said there was almost no food, water or medicine left in the besieged steel mill.

"It's no longer about days, it's about hours."

Ukraine war: Putin's army before storming Azovstal?

Situation “Beyond a Humanitarian Disaster”

First report from April 29, 3:40 p.m.:

Munich - In the Ukraine conflict, Russian troops continue to attack with all their might in several regions.

Her focus is currently almost exclusively on eastern Ukraine.

This map shows where the Ukraine war is raging.

Until recently, fierce ground fighting was taking place in the port city of Mariupol, part of eastern Donetsk Oblast.

But after weeks of air raids, Russia bombed the city almost to the point of complete destruction and was able to capture most of it.

However, the chapter on Mariupol is not yet closed.

The remaining Ukrainian soldiers and countless civilians are holed up in the Azovstal steelworks in the south-east of the city.

Cut off from all supplies and besieged by Vladimir Putin's troops, they are now holding out.

Putin himself had ordered not to actively storm the plant because fighting in the plant's underground tunnels made no sense.

However, Ukrainian authorities reported that despite these statements, Russian soldiers would not end the attacks on the plant.

Preparations are now under way to storm the massive steelworks.

A Ukrainian officer reported miserable conditions inside the plant.

War in Ukraine: Russia apparently preparing to storm Azovstal - area in Mariupol cordoned off

According to Ukrainian authorities in Mariupol, Russian troops cordon off certain areas of the city in preparation for the storming of the Azovstal plant.

The US broadcaster CNN quoted the adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, Petro Andryuschtschenko, as saying that the occupiers had again cordoned off areas up to Weselka Park in the city.

The aforementioned Weselka Park is located directly north of the steelworks, where thousands of civilians and soldiers are staying.

The Russian military blockade could be an indication of a new attempt to storm the Azovstal plant, the adviser said.

Ukraine War: View of the Azovstal Plant in the port city of Mariupol.

© Victor/dpa

Ukraine war: commander reports on Azovstal conditions - "beyond humanitarian catastrophe"

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian commander Serhiy Wolyna drew attention to the difficult conditions in the plant.

The situation inside the steel mill is "beyond a humanitarian catastrophe," Wolyna, who has holed himself up at the scene, told CNN.

There are hundreds of civilians in the steelworks area, he stressed.

Among them are 60 younger people, the youngest of whom is only four months old.

Due to the Russian air raid on the plant's field hospital, there is no longer any "vital" medical equipment.

The equipment for medical interventions was destroyed, which is why wounded people can no longer be treated.

Army medics are currently tending to the wounded with all their skills, but medicine and equipment are urgently needed.

In addition, you have “very little water, very little to eat”.

He did not know any details about a possible evacuation, said Wolyna.

"I know that a mission has arrived in Zaporizhia and they will try to launch a rescue operation," he told CNN.

He is also in constant contact with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj, who describes the latest developments in Mariupol and the war in Ukraine in general.

Although Zelenskyy is trying to keep up the morale of those trapped, he cannot say for sure how long they will be able to withstand the Russian attacks.