Ukraine-News: Wives describe 'terrible' situation of Azovstal soldiers in Mariupol

Created: 05/16/2022, 04:49 am

By: Astrid Theil, Felix Durach

Russia's troops experience further setbacks in the Ukraine war.

President Zelenskyy speaks of a "very difficult" situation in the Donbass.

The news ticker.

• Phosphorus bombs on Azov steelworks: Ukraine reports Russian attacks in Mariupol.

  The banned bombs are said to have been labeled with macabre messages related to the ESC.

• Zelenskyj on the situation in Donbass: The Ukrainian President describes the current situation as "very difficult" and the efforts of the Russian armed forces as "particularly crazy".

• The

  head of Ukraine's military

  intelligence service believes that August will see a "tipping point" in the war.

• This

  news ticker on the military battles in the Russia-Ukraine war

  is continuously updated.

Update from May 15, 7:18 p.m .:

According to official information, two people died as a result of Russian shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievjerodonetsk.

One house was hit in the attacks on Saturday, said the military governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Hajday.

The artillery shelling has continued in the past few hours, Hajdaj wrote on the social network Telegram.

He had previously spoken of nine injured as a result of attacks on a hospital.

The information could not be verified at first.

Women describe "terrible" situation of Azowstal soldiers

Update from May 15, 6:02 p.m .:

Several wives of the last Ukrainian fighters in the port city of Mariupol have described catastrophic conditions in the Azowstal steel plant.

There is only one glass of water per person per day, said one of the women in an interview quoted by the Ukrainian media on Sunday.

The woman said she was last able to talk to her husband on the phone a few hours ago.

She and the others once again called for the evacuation of all entrenched fighters - first the seriously injured among them.

Their situation is "terrible": Some are missing arms or legs, there are hardly any drugs or narcotics.

According to Ukrainian sources, around 1,000 defenders of Mariupol have holed up in the steelworks, which has been surrounded and fired upon by Russians and pro-Russian separatists for weeks.

Around 600 are said to be injured, it was said recently.

The Ukrainian army is far from Mariupol and currently has no chance of liberating the city, which has been largely occupied by the Russians.

"The mood is pessimistic because there is almost no hope of rescue," said one fighter's wife in the interview.

"They are preparing for the final battle because they don't believe in a diplomatic solution."

Russia reports renewed shelling near Ukrainian border

Update from May 15, 3:30 p.m .:

According to Russian information, there were renewed attacks on the Belgorod region near the border with Ukraine on Sunday.

A civilian was injured when the Ukrainian military shelled the village of Sereda, the governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on Sunday on the Telegram news channel.

Incidents keep happening in the border areas.

Last week Gladkow spoke of one dead and several injured when the village of Solochi was shelled.

The border regions, including Kursk, Bryansk and Voronezh, had repeatedly complained about shelling from the Ukrainian side.

Ukraine generally denies allegations of having shelled targets such as ammunition depots or fuel depots in the large neighboring country.

Russia had threatened to target command posts in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv if the shelling didn't stop.

However, the information cannot currently be independently verified.

British intelligence on Russian losses - a third of ground forces lost

Update from May 15, 11:40 a.m .:

The Russian military has suffered heavy losses in the course of the war of aggression against Ukraine.

A report by the British secret service, which the British Ministry of Defense published on Twitter, shows how heavy these losses really were.

Accordingly, Moscow has lost a third of the ground troops deployed in Ukraine since February.

The situation is aggravated even more by the loss of crucial material for bridge construction and reconnaissance.

"Russian forces are increasingly constrained by devastated supply capabilities, persistently low morale and reduced combat effectiveness," the report released on Sunday said.

The Russian offensive in the Donbass has therefore lost momentum and is far behind schedule.

The attrition of troops and material is high, but the territory gained in the past month is insignificant.

"Under the current conditions, Russia is unlikely to dramatically accelerate its advances in the next 30 days," the experts concluded.

Phosphorus bombs on Azov steelworks: Ukraine reports on macabre ESC messages

Update from May 15, 10:01 a.m .:

According to the Ukrainian military leadership, Russian troops fired phosphorus bombs at the Azov steelworks in the badly damaged port city of Mariupol, where around 1000 Ukrainian defenders are said to be still located.

“Hell has come to earth.

To Azovstal,” Mariupol city council deputy Petro Andryushchenko wrote on Sunday in the Telegram news channel.

The use of such incendiary bombs, which ignite through contact with oxygen, is prohibited.

Andryushchenko also published pictures showing inscriptions on bombs.

Accordingly, the Russian military is said to have reacted to Ukraine's victory in the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC).

It was initially not clear where these photos came from.

The alleged bombs read in Russian: "Kalusha, as requested!

Auf Azovstal' and in English 'Help Mariupol - Help Azovstal right now', dated 14 May.

The singer of the band Kalusha Orchestra, which won the ESC, said these words in an appeal on the stage in Turin.

The Ukrainian information cannot currently be independently verified.

Russian troops are said to have attacked the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol with phosphorus bombs - here during Russian shelling on May 7th.

© Alexei Alexandrov/dpa

Russia regroups troops in eastern Ukraine: Further offensives despite losses

Update from May 15, 9:05 a.m .:

According to the Ukrainian leadership, the Russian armed forces are currently regrouping in the east of the country and are conducting further offensives.

As the portal

reports, with reference to the Ukrainian General Staff, the Russian troops, despite losses, continue to advance in the Lyman, Sievierodonetsk, Avdiivka and Kurakhi areas.

However, in the last 24 hours, the Ukrainian defenders managed to repel 12 attacks in the direction of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

According to Ukrainian sources, eight tanks, five artillery systems, nine armored fighting vehicles and five other vehicles belonging to the Russian troops were destroyed.

However, the information provided by the Ukrainian side cannot be independently verified at this time.

Zelenskyy on the situation in Donbass: "Step by step we are forcing the occupiers to leave our country"

Update from May 15, 7:08 a.m.:

According to Volodymyr Zelensky, the situation in the Donbass region remains “very difficult” for Ukraine.

The Russian troops tried to achieve "at least a certain victory" there, said the Ukrainian President in his daily video address on Sunday night.

On the 80th day after the invasion, that seemed "particularly crazy," he adds.

Russian troops are concentrating their attacks on eastern Ukraine after failing to advance towards Kyiv.

Selenskyj was confident: "Step by step we are forcing the occupiers to leave our country."

Russian troops are attacking on a broad front in eastern Ukraine.

Among other things, the Russian army is particularly active in Donetsk, the Ukrainian general staff wrote on Facebook on Saturday.

All of the information could not initially be checked independently.

Recording from May 13: Scene from Mariupol in the Donetsk region © Uncredited/AP/dpa

Ukraine War News: Turkey plans to evacuate Mariupol fighters

Update from May 14, 8:54 p.m .:

Russian troops are said to be forcing Ukrainian civilians in Mariupol to take off their Ukrainian license plates.

As the

wrote, citing local media reports, the civilians are said to be attaching Russian license plates to their vehicles.

However, this information cannot be independently verified.

Update May 14, 7:15 p.m.:

Turkey has offered to evacuate the last Ukrainian soldiers defending Mariupol.

As reported by the

, Ibrahim Kalin, a government spokesman for Turkey, told Reuters that the offer has been made.

The wounded would be taken to safety across the Black Sea.

The Kremlin has not yet agreed to the offer.

War in Ukraine: Ukrainian soldiers have slowed down Russian advances in the east

Update from May 14, 3:15 p.m .:

According to their own statements, the Ukrainian troops have slowed down the Russian advance in the east of the country.

As the governor of the Lugansk region, Serhiy Gajday, announced on Saturday, the Ukrainian soldiers repelled the enemy's attempts to cross a river and thus encircle the city of Severodonetsk.

In the north, Russian forces are said to have withdrawn from the city of Kharkiv, which had been a priority for Moscow, according to Ukrainian sources.

"Fierce fighting is currently going on on the border with Donetsk region, on the side of the city of Popasna," Gaiday said.

According to the governor, the Russian troops suffered heavy losses in soldiers and weapons.

"An entire Russian battalion refused to attack because they saw what was happening," the governor said.

This was reported by the Ukrainian side, who allegedly intercepted phone calls.

Aerial photos showed dozens of destroyed armored vehicles on the riverbank, as well as wrecked pontoon bridges.

The British Ministry of Defense confirmed that Russian troops suffered heavy casualties after Ukrainian forces repulsed their attempt to cross the river.

The maneuver speaks "for the pressure under which the Russian commanders are to advance their operations in eastern Ukraine".

The ministry stated that the Russian armed forces "have not made any significant progress despite the concentration of their forces in this area".

Finland and NATO: Russian military maneuvers in the Baltic Sea

Update from May 14, 1 p.m.:

Two days after Finland announced that it wanted to join NATO, Russia held extensive military maneuvers around the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad.

SU-27 fighter jets were also used in this military exercise.

This is reported by the Interfax agency, citing the Russian Baltic Sea fleet.

During the maneuver, an air raid on Kaliningrad was simulated.

The destruction of enemy aircraft was practiced.

The Russian province of Kaliningrad with the city of the same name is located on the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania.

Donetsk: Russia reports up to 100 "destroyed" Ukrainian soldiers

Update from May 14, 12:30 p.m .:

According to its own statements, Russia fired on several command posts and two ammunition depots in the Donetsk region during the Ukraine war.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in Moscow on Saturday that 23 units of military equipment were also disabled and up to 100 Ukrainian fighters were "destroyed".

In addition, 18 command points and 543 military positions were fired at with rockets and artillery on Saturday night.

The Donetsk region was the focus of the attacks.

An ammunition depot belonging to the Ukrainian armed forces in the Cherson region is said to have been destroyed.

The Russian side previously announced that it was in control of this region in southern Ukraine.

Russian air defenses also shot down a total of 13 Ukrainian drones in the eastern regions of Kharkov, Luhansk and Donetsk, Konashenkov said.

These statements cannot initially be verified independently.

Ukraine War: Russia suffers heavy casualties

First report from May 14, 10 a.m.:

Kiev – Russia is losing more and more soldiers in the Ukraine war.

Almost every day, the Ukrainian General Staff publishes statistics on the death toll of Russian military personnel.

Contrary to many expectations, Vladimir Putin* spoke in his speech on May 9 of "heavy losses" that Russia had suffered in the Ukraine war.

However, the figures published by the Kremlin are far below those of the government in Kyiv.

In a recent interview with

, the head of the Ukrainian military intelligence service, Kyrylo Budanov, emphasized that the strength of the Russian army is a myth.

The troops are much more a "horde of people with guns".

Many soldiers would leave their positions and give up their equipment in artillery battles.

Nevertheless, Budanov did not speak of an early victory of the Ukrainian troops.

Ukraine war: Ukrainian intelligence chief expects “turning point” of war at the end of August

In his estimation, there will be fighting for several more months.

However, he expects a "turning point" in the second half of August.

Budanov expects the end of the war towards the end of the year.

"We know their plans, mostly when they are made," emphasized Budanov in an interview.

The Ukrainian army knows everything about the "enemy".

The Ukrainian leadership currently sees the beginning of a “third phase” of the Russian war of aggression.

Viktor Andrusyw, adviser in the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior, explained on television on Saturday night that the first phase was an attempt to overrun Ukraine "in a few days".

In a second phase, the Ukrainian troops were to be surrounded and crushed.

Ukraine war: "The coup in Moscow has begun"

"And they didn't manage that either," emphasized Andrusyw.

In the new "third phase" the Russian troops would prepare to defend the territory gained so far.

"It shows that they want to make a long war out of it," Andrusyw said.

Apparently, the Russian government thinks that it can force the West to negotiate and thus force Ukraine to give in.

Regardless of the assessment of the further development of the Ukraine war, Kyrylo Budanov emphasized that there would soon be a change of political power in the Kremlin.

"The coup in Moscow has started," Budanov said in an interview with

.

He also answered the question of whether a state empire in Russia was being prepared with a clear "yes".

Ukraine war: rumors about Putin's health: cancer and other diseases

, Bundanov finally spoke

about Putin's allegedly very poor state of health.

The Russian President suffers from cancer and other diseases and is therefore “very ill”.

It was in poor “mental and physical” condition.

The Kremlin has not yet taken a position on this latest information.

Budanov's and Andrsyw's statements cannot be independently verified.