Status: 04/23/2022 09:25
Concerns are growing in Moldova following comments by a Russian commander about Moscow’s ambitions in Ukraine. In Chisinau, the Russian ambassador now has to explain himself. There are reports from Mariupol about a new mass grave.
Suggestions by a top Russian military commander that Russian troops are planning to advance to Ukraine’s southwest border prompted the Moldovan government to act. As a first reaction, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Chisinau summoned the Russian ambassador. The Foreign Ministry said on its website that it wanted to express its “deep concern” at the statements made by Rustam Minnekayev.
Minnekayev was quoted by Russian state news agencies as saying that full control of southern Ukraine would give him access to Transnistria, a breakaway part of Moldova to the west. This would cut across Ukraine’s entire coastline and result in Russian forces advancing hundreds of kilometers westward, past the main Ukrainian coastal cities of Mykolaiv and Odessa.
Escape runners must bring people from Mariupol to safety on Saturday
Philipp Wundersee, WDR, Daily News at 12:07 pm, April 23, 2022
The statement was one of the most detailed about Moscow’s ambitions in Ukraine and indicates that Russia has no plans to end its offensive anytime soon. Minnekayev had also said in Russian media that the Russian-speaking population was being oppressed in Moldova – an argument the Kremlin also used to justify invading Ukraine.
The Foreign Ministry in Chisinau said Minnekayev’s statements were unfounded. “Moldova is a neutral state and this principle must be respected by all international actors, including the Russian Federation.”
Shaded in white: Russian army advance. Shaded in green: Russian-backed separatist areas. Crimea: annexed by Russia. Image: ISW/04/21/2022
“Who will be the next one?”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is just the beginning and that Moscow has plans to conquer other countries. “All nations that, like us, believe in the victory of life over death must fight with us. They must help us because we are first in line. And who will be next?” Zelenskyy said in a video speech on Friday.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Minnekayev’s comments showed Russia was no longer hiding its intentions. Moscow, it said on Twitter, has now “recognized that the objective of the ‘second phase’ of the war is not victory over the mythical Nazis, but simply the occupation of eastern and southern Ukraine.”
Russia calls the invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation” aimed at demilitarizing the country and ridding the population of dangerous nationalists. Ukraine and its western allies speak of a war of unwarranted aggression.
Attacks on Donbass
According to Ukrainian sources, Russian troops continue their attacks in the Donbass region without stopping. “In the direction of Donetsk, the enemy is carrying out offensive actions along the entire front line,” the Ukrainian staff said in its morning situation report. The strongest Russian attacks are directed at the city of Sievjerodonetsk in the Luhansk region. In addition, the General Staff reported ongoing storm attempts at Rubishne, Popasna and Marjinka. The attacks were repelled. To the north, near the town of Izyum in the Kharkov region, Russian troops tried to advance further south to encircle Ukrainian troops.
According to Ukrainian information, Russia’s 64th Motor Rifle Brigade, which was deployed in the Kiev suburb of Bucha, was also involved in the attacks. Images of hundreds of civilians killed there caused horror across the world. Kiev therefore accused Russian soldiers of war crimes, while Moscow denied having anything to do with the atrocities. Russian President Vladimir Putin paid tribute to the brigade.
The Russians are also increasing pressure on the southern sections of the front. Although there is no change in the situation in Mariupol, Russian troops in the Zaporizhia region are said to have been reinforced by fighters from the Wagner mercenary unit. Kiev speaks of about 200 Wagner fighters. The reports could not be independently verified.
conflicting parties as source
In the current situation, information about the course of the war, bombing and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly verified by an independent body.
Another mass grave may have been discovered
The situation in the port city of Mariupol, which was occupied by Russian troops and largely destroyed, remains critical. A new evacuation attempt is scheduled to begin later today. The city council said buses to the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhia are intended for women, children and the elderly. In recent days, there have been repeated attempts to evacuate civilians from the city. However, these efforts failed several times. Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the failure.
Not far from Mariupol, satellite images indicate another possible mass grave. “This time in the Left Bank district, near the Vynohradne cemetery,” city council deputy Petro Andryushchenko told Telegram news service. The occupying forces would try to cover up war crimes.
Images distributed by the US satellite photo service Maxar from March 22 to April 15 show a cemetery near Wynohradne before, during and after an expansion of the graves. Wynohradne is located on the eastern edge of the port city on the Sea of Azov.
The day before, Ukrainian authorities, based on satellite images, had already suspected a possible mass grave in Manhush, about 15 kilometers west of the city’s outskirts. The information cannot be independently verified.
New satellite images may show new mass graves in Mariupol
Tagesschau 2:51 am, April 23, 2022
Municipality: At least 20,000 residents killed
Shortly after the full siege of Mariupol by Russian troops in early March, several photos of people killed in mass graves, presumably from Mariupol, surfaced. Representatives of the Ukrainian city administration assume that at least 20,000 residents were killed as a result of the intense fighting and bombing.
Before the start of the Russian war of aggression almost two months ago, the city had around 440,000 inhabitants. Now, more than 100,000 are said to be in the largely destroyed city. Russia declared Mariupol completely conquered, despite Ukrainian resistance to the Azovstal steelworks.
The situation in the Ukraine war – a Saturday afternoon update
Birgit Becker, WDR, April 23, 2022 11:36 am