War in Ukraine: Ukrainian troops report further territorial gains
Created: 05/19/2022, 06:35
By: Kim Hornickel, Tobias Utz, Daniel Dillmann, Vincent Büssow
Russia controls Mariupol, but Russian troops continue to lose territory in eastern Ukraine.
The news ticker.
Azov steelworks fallen:
Russia achieves a strategically important success in the Ukraine war.
New tanks for the front:
Moscow sends modern tanks into the war with Ukraine.
The situation in the morning:
all the news about the Ukraine conflict from the night and an outlook for the day.
Update from Thursday, May 19, 6:35 a.m .:
The fighting for the Donetsk and Luhansk regions continues.
While the army of Ukraine has repeatedly reported successes in these regions, it also reported the deaths of 15 civilians on Wednesday.
At least one child was among them.
Changes in territorial control during the Ukraine war were not reported.
Ukrainian soldiers near Kharkiv, where reports of success from Ukraine have repeatedly been reported recently.
© Bernat Armangue/dpa
Meanwhile, Russia blames Ukraine for more attacks on Russian territory.
Several places in the Kursk area, which lies on the border with Ukraine, are said to have been shelled.
The report also came from Kyiv that the Sumy and Chernihiv areas in north-eastern Ukraine had been shelled by Russia.
+++ 8.55 p.m .:
According to their own statements, the Ukrainian army has gained further territory around the eastern Ukrainian metropolis of Kharkiv.
The general staff announced on Facebook that the town of Dementijivka in the north had been liberated.
As the Tagesschau reports, the village is only eight kilometers from the Russian border.
In the past few weeks, Ukrainian troops have been able to push back the Russian attackers in the north and north-east of Kharkiv.
The situation near the village of Ternowa north-east of Kharkiv is more difficult.
There, the Russian troops are said to have launched a counterattack.
Fighting also continued for the village of Dowhenke, about 25 kilometers from Slovjans in eastern Ukraine.
+++ 8:00 p.m .:
According to Ukrainian information, around 1,288 bodies were discovered in the region around Kiev.
The people were tortured, raped and executed by Russian soldiers, according to the Ukrainian authorities.
“I stress again, these are civilians!
Most of them were shot with automatic weapons," police chief Andriy Nebitov said on TV.
The atrocities continued until the Russian troops left in April.
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Ukraine News: Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants to extend martial law
+++ 6.40 p.m .:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has spoken out in favor of extending martial law in his country.
In view of the Russian war of aggression, Zelenskyj plans to expand by the end of the summer.
The Ukrainian President has already submitted a corresponding draft law.
Now the state of emergency should prevail for at least another 90 days.
Martial law has been in force in Ukraine since February 24, when Russian troops began attacking the country. It was supposed to expire on May 24.
Ukraine News: High-ranking Ukrainian commanders hold out in steelworks
+++ 4:00 p.m .:
Even if many soldiers from the Mariupol steelworks have “surrendered”, as the Kremlin put it, high-ranking Ukrainian commanders are said to be still in the steelworks.
They have not yet surrendered, local media quoted pro-Russian separatist leader Denis Puschilin as saying on Wednesday.
The DAN news agency quoted Puschilin as saying that among the hundreds of fighters who surrendered there were no top-level commanders.
"They haven't left (the facility) yet," he said.
+++ 1:00 p.m .:
Russian President Vladimir Putin apparently leaves the port city of Mariupol, which has been under siege for months, to his “bloodhound”.
This means Ramzan Kadyrov, who has already caused a stir internationally with his brutality.
Among other things, the leader of the Chechen auxiliary soldiers from Russia is said to instruct "supervisors" in Mariupol to monitor the situation.
Meanwhile, Kadyrov's cousin, Adam Delimkhanov, is said to be serving as field commander in the port city.
A destroyed Russian tank north of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine.
© Mstyslav Chernov/AP/dpa
+++ 10.30 a.m .:
The people fleeing Mariupol report terrible conditions in the city conquered by Russia.
The Russian army is said to open fire on civilian buildings, which would lead to an ever-increasing number of casualties.
"People just die.
The whole city is in chaos,” a resident who managed to escape told the Kyiv Independent news portal.
+++ 09.00 a.m .:
In addition to modern tanks, Russia is also sending more helicopters into the Ukraine war.
According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, the Kremlin has sent 15 attack helicopters to the Luhansk region.
They are intended to help the attackers break through the defense lines in the hard-fought east of the country.
After the fall of Mariupol, the Kremlin is now likely to focus its efforts entirely on conquering the Donbas.
Ukraine News: Azov Steel Plant falls - Russia captures Mariupol
First report from Wednesday, May 18, 8:00 a.m.:
Kiev – Russia has managed to conquer the Azov steelworks in Mariupol, which was hard fought in the Ukraine war.
The remaining 260 Ukrainian soldiers were taken prisoner.
This is reported by both the Ukrainian and the Russian side.
The fate of the Ukrainian prisoners of war remains unclear.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyj said on Wednesday night (May 18) that international mediators would be used to rescue the soldiers from Russian captivity.
Kyiv hopes for a later exchange for Russian prisoners of war.
Moscow again initially left such a step open.
Instead, the Kremlin released a video purporting to show the Ukrainians being captured, receiving medical treatment and the evacuation of the injured.
A good 50 of the soldiers are said to be seriously wounded.
Ukraine News: Russia captures Azov Steel Plant in Mariupol
This ends the three-month struggle for the Azov steelworks.
At times, up to 1,000 civilians and at least as many soldiers are said to have holed up there.
With the conquest, Ukraine's last resistance in Mariupol is likely to have been broken.
Fears are now spreading in Kyiv that Russia could now destroy evidence of war crimes in the port city.
"Murderers cover their tracks," reads a statement released by the city's deposed government shortly before it was captured by Russian troops.
Ukraine News: Russia sends new tanks to war after victory in Mariupol
While Russia celebrates a victory in Mariupol, Vladimir Putin's army is said to continue suffering heavy casualties in eastern Ukraine.
According to unconfirmed information, the air defense in particular continues to attack the attackers.
In order to force victory in the Ukraine war, as in Mariupol, the military leadership is now sending the most modern tanks at its disposal to the front.
A whole train full of T-90M tanks is said to be on its way to Ukraine.
This is reported by the newspaper Izvestia.
Accordingly, the tanks should come fresh from the Uralvagonzavod plant, the largest tank factory in the world.
(dil/tu/kh/vbu with AFP/dpa)
