The Russian Army it attacks along a 300mile front in eastern Ukraine during the Donbass offensive: “This is hell,” said the governor of the Lugansk region. The second phase of the special operation has begunsays Foreign Minister Lavrov, who assures: “Russia will not use nuclear weapons”. Moscow ultimatum to the resistance of the Mariupol Steelworks, “Put down your arms.” The West is doing everything for the Kremlin to prolong the conflict. On the diplomatic front, the White House announced this afternoon that the US President Biden will hold a video call on the Ukraine crisis with their allies and partners. No evacuation corridors for civilians, due to a lack of agreement with the Russian side, it is scheduled for today in Ukraine, for the third day in a row. Beijing: “China will continue to strengthen strategic coordination with Russia despite international volatility”
ANSA agency
Macron: “I will return to Kyiv, but to bring something useful” (ANSA)
ULTIMATUM AT THE MARIUPOL STEEL MILL The Russian Defense Ministry is calling on the Ukrainian military barricaded at the Azovstal Steel Plant in Mariupol to surrender by noon. This was announced by the Russian agency Interfax. “Enough of this senseless resistance,” “lay down your arms,” is Russia’s call, according to AFP reports.
The attack by Russian special forces on the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol has begun. This was said by the representative of the Donetsk People’s Militia Eduard Basurin on the Rossiya 24 TV channel, the Russian news agency Ria Novosti reported. A militia representative denied that civilians were also hiding in the steelworks.
Instead, the port city council says by telegram that at least 1,000 civilians are hiding in makeshift shelters under the Azovstal Steelworks, mostly women with children and the elderly. And Mayor Vadym Boichenko said some 40,000 civilians were “forcibly deported” from the city to Russia or Russiancontrolled regions of Ukraine. Figures “verified by the municipal register,” the mayor explained.
A video showing Ukrainian women and children taking refuge in the basement of the Azovstal Steelworks in the besieged port city of Mariupol was posted to Telegram last night by the nationalist Azov Battalion. CNN reports about it. The regiment’s commander, Lt. Col. Denys Prokopenko, also said Russian forces were firing on the plant. The steel mill is one of the last areas under Ukrainian control in the city.
164,000 CHILDREN ARRIVED IN RUSSIA “Since February, nearly 880,000 people, including 164,000 children, have arrived in Russia from Ukraine and the selfproclaimed republics of Donbass. The Russian agency Tass writes, citing institutional sources.” almost 18,000 in the last 24 hours. 713,000 people were evacuated from Donbass to Russia, the rest came from the territory of Ukraine”.
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MACRON: I WILL RETURN TO KIEV French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking to TV channel France 5, instead responded to those who asked him why he wasn’t going to Kyiv to follow the example of other European leaders. “I will come back, but to bring something useful: just to show my support, I don’t have to go there. If I go to Kyiv, it has to be to make a difference,” Macron said, adding that he had not spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin since the mass killings in Bucha and other Ukrainian cities were exposed.
5,000 REFUGEES IN THE USA Meanwhile, the number of Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in the United States since the beginning of the war has risen to 5,000, according to American authorities. Most of them entered the US through various programs set up to take in refugees fleeing the invasion of Russia. For those who stayed in Ukraine, UNICEF is sounding the alarm for water: over 4.6 million people have limited access to this basic commodity due to the war, and over six million people struggle for water every day.
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