Ukraine-News: Mariupol under control - Russia celebrates partial victory

Created: 2022-05-21Updated: 2022-05-21 06:45

By: Kim Hornickel, Tobias Utz, Sebastian Richter, Daniel Dillmann, Nadja Austel, Nail Akkoyun, Vincent Büssow

The situation in the Ukraine war continues to deteriorate - militarily, diplomatically and humanitarianly: the news ticker on Saturday, May 21st.

• Azov Commander:

  Surrender at Mariupol

• Heavy Air Attacks:

  Russia reports attacks in border region of Ukraine

• Armament in Russia:

  Response to possible NATO expansion in the Ukraine war

• The news ticker about the Ukraine conflict

  is constantly updated.

+++ 6.40 a.m .:

After weeks of fierce fighting, the Russian army claims that it has completely taken control of the Azovstal steelworks in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol.

All enemy fighters surrendered, the Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday night in Moscow.

The sprawling industrial complex on the Azov Sea was the last place in the strategically important port city in south-eastern Ukraine that had not yet been fully under Russian control.

Russia is celebrating the capture of the Mariupol Steelworks as a major partial victory in its war of aggression against Ukraine.

The Ukrainian side initially did not comment on the alleged capture of the plant.

According to information from Moscow, a total of 2,439 Ukrainian soldiers holed up in Soviet-era bunkers have been taken prisoner by the Russians since May 16.

The last group of 531 fighters was captured on Friday, it said.

The steelworks had been besieged by Russian troops since April 21.

In a television interview recorded before the Russian government announced the capture, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy blamed the West for the development.

He has repeatedly called on Western leaders to provide his country with "appropriate weapons so that we can reach Mariupol to liberate these people."

Ukraine War: Mariupol probably under Russian control

+++ 9:21 p.m .:

According to Russian information, all fighters in the besieged Azovstal steelworks in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol have now surrendered.

The Ministry of Defense in Moscow announced on Friday evening that the industrial zone is now completely under Russian control.

A total of 2,439 Ukrainian soldiers have been taken prisoner by the Russians since May 16.

+++ 18:08:

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) wants to expand its investigations into human rights violations in Ukraine.

For this purpose, observers are sent to the country to interview witnesses and survivors.

This was announced by the OSCE Office for Democracy and Human Rights (ODIHR) in Warsaw.

The organization had previously spoken to refugees in neighboring countries fleeing the war and Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The focus of the observation are the civilian population and prisoners of war.

The OSCE named attacks on civilians, killings, disappearances and torture as the most pressing issues.

The resulting report could take months.

also read

"Like 1945": Putin is confident of victory - but the West puts the next damper on Russia

Suddenly serious words on Putin's propaganda TV - "It will definitely get worse"

The International Criminal Court in The Hague has already sent a 42-strong team to Ukraine to investigate possible war crimes.

UN human rights experts are also examining the situation in the country.

A Russian soldier in front of the Mariupol Steelworks.

Moscow has announced the complete capture of the plant.

This photo was taken during a trip organized by the Russian Defense Ministry.

© Uncredited/dpa

Ukraine News: Russian Black Sea Fleet is preparing massive rocket fire

+++ 4.45 p.m .:

According to an assessment by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense in Kiev, the Russian army is ready to fire missiles in the Black Sea.

16 "Kalibr" cruise missiles are stationed on two ships in the Russian fleet, a spokesman said on Friday.

The Kremlin has not yet commented on this.

The information cannot be independently verified.

A warship of the Russian fleet.

(Iconic photo) © Russian Defense Ministry/Imago Images

+++ 4.15 p.m .:

According to a report, Russia’s armed forces are currently shooting at a school in Sieverodonetsk, near Luhansk.

As the news portal Kyiv Independent reports, citing statements by Governor Serhiy Haidai, people from the civilian population are said to have taken refuge in the building.

At least three people were killed by Russian shelling, Haidai said.

His statements cannot be independently verified.

News on the Ukraine war: Azov commander declares surrender

+++ 3.45 p.m .:

Denys Prokopenko, commander of the Azov regiment, made the capitulation in the Mariupol steelworks public in a video message.

"The army leadership has given the order to stop defending the city," he said.

Previously, the Ukrainian government had ordered the end of the defense of Mariupol.

In this way, the life and health of the soldiers involved should be protected, it said.

+++ 2.30 p.m .:

The Kiev police are investigating 13 cases against Russian soldiers for sexual assault on civilian victims.

According to Ukraine's Deputy Interior Minister Kateryna Pavlichenko, two cases of rape have already been initiated.

This is reported by the news portal Kyiv Independent.

+++ 1.45 p.m .:

The Kremlin has reported the almost complete conquest of the Luhansk region.

"The liberation of the Luhansk People's Republic is almost complete," Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday.

In the region, only the cities of Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, separated by a river, are now controlled by Ukraine, Shoigu said.

Both places were encircled by the Russian army, he stressed.

Schoigu's statements cannot be independently verified.

Ukraine News: Kyiv orders end of defense of Mariupol

+++ 1:15 p.m .:

The Ukrainian government has ordered the end of the defense of Mariupol.

This applies above all to the soldiers in the steelworks in the port city.

"The higher military command gave the order to save the lives of the soldiers of our garrison," Azov commander Denys Prokopenko said in a video.

According to Prokopenko, the corpses of killed soldiers are to be removed from the facility.

Ukraine News: Russia reports heavy air strikes along border

+++ 1:00 p.m .:

Russia’s army has reported heavy airstrikes in border regions of Ukraine.

According to a Defense Ministry spokesman, the military is concentrating on attacks in the Ukrainian hinterland.

He reported attacks on the villages of Bakhmut, Berestove, Kostyantynivka, Maslyakivka, Pokrovske, Soledar in Donetsk region and the city of Chuhuiv in Kharkiv region.

+++ 12.15 p.m .:

In the past 24 hours, a total of four Russian rockets have hit the Donetsk region.

This is reported by the Kyiv Independent news portal, with reference to statements by the region's governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko.

The rockets mainly hit the town of Bakhmut.

The information cannot be independently verified.

However, Russian bombings in the said oblast were reported as early as Thursday afternoon.

Ukraine News: Russia reacts to NATO expansion

+++ 11.30 a.m .:

Russia has announced that it will build new military bases “by the end of the year” in view of the NATO expansion.

"Twelve military bases and units will be established in the Western Military District by the end of the year," Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Russian news agencies.

+++ 10.30 a.m .:

Russian rocket attacks in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk apparently killed 13 civilians.

Governor Serhij Hajdaj reports this on Telegram.

His statements are not independently verifiable.

Ukraine News: Explosions on Friday morning

+++ 9.45 a.m .:

Explosions occurred in the Schytomyr region, west of the Ukrainian capital Kiev, on Friday morning.

This was confirmed by the head of the Korosten regional military administration, Yuriy Tarasiuk, as reported by the news portal Kyiv Independent.

The connection between the explosions is still unclear.

Tarasiuk's claims cannot be independently verified.

+++ 09:00:

Russia's heavy losses in the Ukraine war are piling up.

The British Ministry of Defense is assuming a high level of "attrition" among the armed forces.

According to the intelligence service in Great Britain, the commanders are “under pressure” to present reports of military success to the Kremlin.

Russia could be making a fatal mistake.

+++ 8.15 a.m .:

The southern Ukrainian city of Cherson, which is in Russian hands, should “soon” become part of Russia.

The Kremlin-appointed governor Volodymyr Saldo said on Telegram: "We consider the Russian Federation as our own country".

Saldo also said that the new budget for the Kherson region had already been approved in Russian rubles.

Ukraine News: Heavy fighting reported in Donbass

First report from Friday, May 20, 7:15 a.m.:

The fighting in Ukraine continued during the night.

There should have been fighting in the east of the country in particular, according to the General Staff of Ukraine.

Heavy fighting continues in the Donbass region.

"The enemy is conducting an offensive in the Lysychansk and Sievarodonetsk areas," the Ukrainian General Staff reported in its situation report on Friday.

For example, Russia tried to restore the lost positions in the city of Kharkiv, which were recently recaptured by the defenders.

In the Donetsk region, too, the attackers are said to have stepped up their military efforts and fired at Ukrainian units with mortars, artillery and rocket launchers.

The city of Chernihiv near Kyiv is said to have also been shelled.

(dil/tu/kh/vbu/nak with AFP/dpa)