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Satellite image of the Azov steelworks in Mariupol (April 30): Hundreds of civilians are said to be holding out in bunkers
Photo: Uncredited / dpa
What has happened in the past few hours
So far, China has tended to side with Russia in the Ukraine war.
Chinese state media have now published an interview with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in which he is unusually open in his criticism of Russia.
Kuleba also asked China for protection guarantees in the interview published on Saturday.
"Ukraine is currently exploring the possibility of receiving security guarantees from permanent members of the UN Security Council, including China, and other major powers," Kuleba told Xinhua News Agency.
"This is a sign of our respect and trust in the People's Republic of China."
Beijing had already pledged to assist Ukraine in 2013 if it was attacked or threatened with nuclear weapons.
Since Russia's invasion, however, the Chinese leadership has been evasive on the issue.
When asked about this, a State Department spokesman last month referred only to "substantive restrictions" and "certain conditions" that would result from a United Nations resolution for non-nuclear armed states.
The government in Beijing has not officially condemned the Russian attack on Ukraine, instead repeatedly accusing the US and NATO of provoking Russia and fueling the conflict by supplying arms to Ukraine.
So far, Chinese state media have largely followed Moscow's line, hardly reporting on civilian victims of Russian attacks and, in accordance with Russian guidelines, avoiding terms such as "war" and "invasion".
The interview with Kuleba now contained sharp criticism of Russia.
The Ukrainian accused Moscow of endangering China's "New Silk Road" infrastructure initiative and the Chinese economy with its "invasion".
"We believe that this war is not in China's interest," Xinhua continued to quote the foreign minister.
»The situation is not escalating because of Ukraine, but we are exercising our right to defend ourselves.«
What Happened at the Azov Steel Plant
It is said that some civilians were able to escape from the besieged Azov steelworks in Mariupol.
According to the deputy commander of the Ukrainian Azov regiment, 20 women and children have been evacuated.
Russian news agencies had previously written of 25 civilians leaving the factory premises.
The United Nations has been pushing for an evacuation deal.
The Reuters news agency quoted a Ukrainian militant as saying that Russia and Ukraine adhered to a local ceasefire in order to be able to evacuate people from the steel mill.
He hopes that the evacuated civilians will be taken to the northwestern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia, the man said.
"We're pulling civilians out of the rubble with ropes - they're elderly, women and children," the fighter is quoted as saying.
Neither Russia nor the United Nations commented on the evacuations.
According to Ukrainian officials, hundreds of civilians are still in the steelworks.
Russia, on the other hand, speaks of around 2,500 Ukrainian fighters and foreign mercenaries who are also said to have holed up there.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian side reported that two Russian fighter jets and several drones had been shot down.
The Su-25 aircraft and four of the seven downed drones were hit in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian air force and army said on Facebook on Sunday night.
In addition, three anti-aircraft tanks, the Strela-10 anti-aircraft system and a radio vehicle were destroyed on the Russian-controlled island of Snakes in the Black Sea, the task force "South" announced on Facebook.
That says Kyiv
The leadership in Kyiv has made new statements about the losses on the Russian side.
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, 23,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the war began at the end of February.
In addition, more than a thousand Russian tanks and almost 2,500 other military vehicles have already been destroyed, Zelenskyy said in a speech on Saturday evening.
According to the Unian agency, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said on Saturday evening that no troop movements from Russia towards Ukraine had been observed for four days.
On the other hand, "a large number of broken equipment, wounded and dead" will be brought back to Russia.
Moscow says so
The actual military losses of the Russian side are difficult to estimate.
Moscow has so far admitted more than a thousand of its own casualties and puts the number of Ukrainian fighters killed at more than 23,000.
Russia has accused Ukraine of killing and injuring its own civilians by shelling in the southern Kherson region.
As Russia announced on Sunday, the Ukrainian armed forces are said to have shelled a school, a kindergarten and a cemetery in two villages in the Kherson region.
This was reported by the Russian news agency RIA on Sunday.
The Ministry in Moscow therefore gave no further details.
Ukraine did not immediately respond to the report, which Reuters said could not be independently verified.
That's what the international community says
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reiterated Washington's continued "robust support" for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.
In a conversation with his Ukrainian colleague Dmytro Kuleba on Saturday evening, according to a statement from the State Department, Blinken informed about the forthcoming return of US diplomats, first to Lviv in the coming week and as soon as possible to Kyiv.
According to Ukrainian information, the Ukrainian and US military also coordinated again.
A phone call between the Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valeriy Saluschnyj and US Chief of Staff Mark Milley revolved around the delivery of weapons, ammunition and other equipment, as it was said on Sunday night on Saluschnyj's Facebook page.
Zalushnyj emphasized that the Ukrainian army must switch from Soviet equipment to NATO models.
"And the sooner we start this process, the sooner we'll complete it."
US President Joe Biden announced in Washington on Thursday that he would ask Congress to approve an additional US$33 billion (€31.4 billion) for Ukraine.
20 billion of that should be used for military aid, about 8.5 billion for economic aid.
That was said about German arms deliveries
Meanwhile, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is defending his Ukraine policy against accusations that he is acting too hesitantly and fearfully in the face of Russian aggression.
“I make my decisions quickly—and in concert with our allies.
I am suspicious of hasty action and German going it alone,” said the SPD politician to “Bild am Sonntag”.
He intends to stick to this course.
On Tuesday, the federal government approved the delivery of Gepard anti-aircraft tanks to the German armaments industry.
They are the first heavy weapons to be delivered directly from Germany to Ukraine.
Before the Ukraine war, the principle applied was not to hand over weapons to crisis areas.
The Ukrainian ambassador in Germany, Andriy Melnyk, continues to demand the most modern German weapons for Ukraine's defensive struggle against the Russian army.
The promised Gepard tanks are already 40 years old, he told the "Bild am Sonntag".
But in order to defeat Russia, "we need the most modern German weapons."
Specifically, he mentioned the rapid export of 88 Leopard tanks, 100 Marder tanks, self-propelled howitzers "and much more".
Melnyk described the fear of becoming a war party by supplying arms as complete nonsense: “For Putin, Germany has long been a war party.
Anyone who wants to prevent their war from escalating must help us now to put Putin in his place.”
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) told the "Bild am Sonntag" that a prerequisite for lasting peace in Europe and an end to sanctions against Russia is the withdrawal of all Russian soldiers from Ukraine.
“A ceasefire can only be a first step.” According to the minister, we must help ensure that Ukraine is strong enough to decide for itself.
"No one has the right to dictate to them."
what is happening today
Labor Day on Sunday is also marked by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and its consequences for Germany.
Ver.di boss Frank Werneke warned against an arms race in view of the announced billion-dollar rearmament program for Germany.
Germany must be able to defend itself, including its alliance obligations, Werneke explained in the pre-release manuscript of his speech in Mainz.
The goal remains a world with fewer weapons.
The chairman of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), Reiner Hoffmann, has already called for greater participation by the rich in dealing with the burden.
mmq/dpa/Reuters