“ Violent
fighting”
broke out on Wednesday at the Azovstal site, Mariupol Mayor Vadim Boitchenko told Ukrainian television.
“We lost touch with the guys.
We cannot know what is going on there, whether they are safe or not
,” he added.
According to him,
"heavy artillery, tanks (and) aviation"
are at work in this Russian offensive, as well as
"ships that approached the coast"
, the territory of Azovstal being along from the Sea of Azov.
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LIVE - War in Ukraine: follow minute by minute the evolution of the conflict
"Our guys are brave and are defending the fortress, but it's really difficult"
, he explained, considering that
"having held back the enemy"
for weeks, the last fighters entrenched in the underground passages of the huge steelworks
"had saved time"
.
Seat option
Moments before this statement, Moscow had denied an assault on the Mariupol steelworks, the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in this southern city besieged for two months by the Russian army.
According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov,
"the order was given
(April 21)
publicly by the Commander-in-Chief
(Vladimir Putin)
to call off any assault
. "
Already on Tuesday, the Ukrainian authorities had claimed that Moscow was carrying out
a “powerful assault”
, while the Russian Ministry of Defense announced only aircraft and artillery strikes to
“destroy firing positions”.
Ukrainians.
An assault on Azovstal would be costly in the lives of Russian soldiers, Vladimir Putin assured on April 21, preferring the siege option.
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War in Ukraine: the major strategic issues of the capture of Mariupol
Russia controls a large part of this port city, largely devastated by two months of strikes.
But the last defenders of Mariupol resist in a vast network of underground galleries, under the steel works of Azovstal, which are difficult to take by storm or to destroy by bombardments.
An unknown number of civilians are still holed up in these tunnels,
"hundreds, including more than thirty children who are waiting to be rescued"
, according to the mayor of this martyred city.
Since Saturday, 200 civilians have managed to get out of this underground hell after delicate evacuation operations carried out by the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross in coordination between Russian and Ukrainian belligerents.
No meeting with Pope Francis
According to Ukraine's military intelligence (GUR), Russia is planning a military parade in the besieged port of Mariupol for May 9, the day Moscow celebrates victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. Deputy Director of Presidential Administration Russian Sergei Kirienko arrived in Mariupol for the parade, GUR said in a statement on Telegram.
Moscow has also denied reports of a national mobilization, decreed on May 9 again.
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War in Ukraine: twenty civilians left the Azovstal site in Mariupol to be evacuated, according to the Azov regiment
Elsewhere in eastern Ukraine, Russia has stepped up its military offensive against Donbass, according to Ukraine's Defense Ministry.
On Tuesday alone, Moscow carried out nearly 50 airstrikes, according to kyiv.
Russia announced that one of its submarines fired two Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea against land targets in Ukraine.
Sergei Choïgou, the Russian Defense Minister, recalled that Moscow considers as
“legitimate targets to destroy”
NATO arms convoys bound for Ukraine.
On the diplomatic front, the Kremlin indicated that no agreement existed to date for a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Pope Francis, the latter having expressed his desire to go and discuss with the Russian president.