04/12/2022 16:27 (act 04/12/2022 16:30)
Russian soldier in Donetsk ©APA/AFP
According to information from Kiev, Russian troops want to go ahead with an imminent offensive to the administrative borders of the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. Russia will attempt to capture the already fiercely contested port city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov and Popasna in the Luhansk region, the Ukrainian general staff announced Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, Ukraine is investigating reports of the possible use of chemical weapons in the battle for Mariupol.
The Russians are currently in the process of completing their troop transfers to Russia’s Belgorod and Voronezh regions near the border. According to their own statements, Russian forces fired on 32 military objects in Ukraine overnight. Among other things, a Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile system as well as an ammunition depot and an aircraft hangar with Ukrainian air force technology were destroyed, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
German military expert Carlo Masala expects a major Russian attack in eastern Ukraine after Easter. The reinforcement and regrouping of Russian troops will be completed soon, the professor of politics said in the “austere” podcast “Ukraine – the situation”. The start of the attack depends on many factors, including the weather.
In the near-destroyed city of Mariupol, the Ukrainian Azov regiment reported an alleged attack with a chemical substance during the night. The statements made by the regiment, which experts classified as nationalist and right-wing extremist, were initially not confirmed by the Ukrainian side.
Pro-Russian separatists have denied claims by Ukrainian fighters that they carried out a poison gas attack in Mariupol. “The armed forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic did not use chemical weapons in Mariupol,” said Eduard Bassurin, a spokesman for the Donetsk separatists, according to Interfax. There has been no official confirmation for this.
Ukraine is examining unconfirmed information about the possible use of chemical weapons. “According to preliminary information, there is an assumption that it was probably phosphorus ammunition,” Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar said on Ukrainian television. Final conclusions can only come later. Maljar did not say exactly which ammunition was used. However, the risk of a Russian use of chemical weapons is great, she stressed.
If Russia did use chemical weapons in Ukraine, then, according to the British government, all options are on the table for an answer. “There are some things that are beyond the law,” Defense Minister James Heappey told Sky News. The use of chemical weapons would provoke a Western reaction. “And all options are on the table as to what that answer might look like.” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Monday that Britain was working with its partners to verify the details of reports that Russian forces may have used chemical warfare agents in an attack on Mariupol.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Monday that Russia could use chemical weapons. Britain and the US said they were aware of reports that Russia may have already used chemical warfare agents in the Battle of Mariupol.
British military intelligence also expects an increase in fighting in eastern Ukraine in the next two to three weeks. Russia continues to focus its attacks on Ukrainian positions near Donetsk and Luhansk, the Defense Ministry in London said on Twitter. There will be more fights around Cherson and Mykolayiv.
There is also new momentum towards the city of Kramatorsk, where dozens of people were killed in a rocket attack at the train station last week. The British, citing their intelligence, also see signs that more Russian troops are being withdrawn from Belarus – likely with the intention of deploying them to eastern Ukraine.
According to Ukrainian information, nine escape corridors are planned for Tuesday, including to the besieged port city of Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said. From there, civilians could arrive safely in private vehicles. Five of the nine runners would be in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.