On the 61st day of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine, attacks on the strategic port of Mariupol continue, where Ukrainian forces continue to resist as best they can. At the same time, Kyiv continues to demand arms supplies to deal with Russian attacks.
Russian tank farm is on fire
A large fuel depot caught fire in a Russian town near the Ukrainian border on Monday, Russian authorities said. “A fire has broken out at the Transneft Briansk-Druzhba tank farm in Briansk,” a city 150 km from the border with Ukraine that serves as a logistics base for Moscow’s military offensive in that country, the Emergency Situations Ministry, quoted by Russian, told news agencies . “According to initial information, there is no victim,” he added. The reasons for this fire were not specified.
The fire started around 2 a.m. (1 a.m. in France) in the Fokinsky district of the city of Bryansk, the local branch of the Ministry for Emergency Situations said, adding that rescuers and firefighters were dispatched to the scene.
Footage released by Russian media showed a fire in Bryansk at night that flared red as thick smoke billowed into the sky.
A large fuel depot caught fire Monday, April 25, in Bryansk, a city in Russia 150 km from the Ukrainian border. (liveua card)
The Interfax news agency reported that a second tank farm was on fire in the same area, but this information could not be immediately confirmed.
Two Ukrainian drones shot down
Russia announces that it shot down two Ukrainian drones near its border in the village of Borovskoye in the Kursk region. According to the governor of the region Roman Starovoit, quoted by the Russian agency Tass, there are no casualties, injuries or damage. “Today at 4:15 in the morning, Russian air defense teams shot down two Ukrainian drones in the village of Borovskoye, Rylsky District,” he announced on Telegram.
According to Washington, Ukraine can win
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin claimed Ukraine could win the war and struck a decidedly offensive tone the day after US leaders visited Kyiv for the first time since the Russian invasion. “They can win if they have the right equipment and the right support,” he declared after the trip, during which he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accompanied by Foreign Minister Antony Blinken. The first thing to win is to believe that you can win. And they are convinced that they can win,” the US Secretary of Defense told some reporters about the Ukrainians.
The two officials announced to their interlocutors the gradual return of an American diplomatic presence in Ukraine and additional military assistance. The United States has just boosted shipments of military equipment to Ukraine. They are now supplying it with heavy weapons to resist the Russian offensive in the east of the country. “We want Russia to be weakened to such an extent that it cannot do the same things as invading Ukraine,” the Pentagon chief said again. “She’s already lost a lot of military skills and, to be honest, a lot of troops, and we wouldn’t want her to refill those skills quickly,” he added.
Antony Blinken also hinted that US President Joe Biden would appoint a new US ambassador to Ukraine in the coming days. It will be Bridget Brink, current ambassador to Slovakia. The diplomatic post in Ukraine has been headed by charge d’affaires since 2019. The return of an American diplomatic presence in the country will be very gradual as the United States is much more cautious than several European countries that have already reopened their embassies in Kyiv.
Moscow announces ceasefire, Kyiv denies
Russia on Monday announced its intention to cease hostilities to allow the evacuation of civilians holed up with Ukrainian militants in the besieged Azovstal metallurgical complex in Mariupol, southeastern Ukraine. Russian forces and their pro-Russian Ukrainian proxies pledge to “unilaterally cease hostilities at 2:00 p.m. Moscow time, withdraw units to a safe distance and ensure the departure” of civilians “in the direction of their choice,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement Explanation. The ministry states that the categories of people eligible to go out are women, children and factory workers. “If there are still civilians in the metallurgical plant, we expressly demand that the authorities in Kyiv order the commanders of the (Ukrainian) nationalist formations to release them,” the Russian ministry added.
But no agreement was reached, Kyiv said. “I officially and publicly declare that today, unfortunately, there is no agreement on a humanitarian corridor from Azovstal,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk wrote on Telegram, shortly after Russia announced it would cease hostilities to allow for the evacuation of civilians. The huge Azovstal factory is the last reduced area controlled by Kiev forces in Mariupol, a major port city devastated by bombing after several weeks of siege. While the buildings of the metallurgical complex are largely destroyed on the surface, a vast network of underground tunnels has so far allowed Ukrainian militants to wrest total control from Russian forces. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that about a thousand civilians and hundreds of wounded were still holed up there in appalling conditions, without water and food.
An announcement that comes in response to the United Nations call for an “immediate” ceasefire in the city, a strategic port in the Sea of Azov almost entirely controlled by the Russian army, to allow for the evacuation of about 100,000 civilians who still remain stuck in the city ruined city, besieged since the beginning of March. The bombing and fighting has claimed the lives of more than 20,000 civilians in Mariupol, Mayor Vadym Boychenko said, denouncing on Ukraine’s Channel 24 that “occupying Russian forces are preventing evacuations”.
“Every day, every hour that passes has a terrible human cost,” lamented the International Committee of the Red Cross, urging “the voluntary and safe passage of thousands of civilians and hundreds of wounded from the city, including the Azovstal zone -Factory”, the last nest of resistance of Ukrainian fighters. According to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, Russian forces are still besieging and shelling the factory. But “the (Ukrainian) defense lines in Mariupol are on the verge of collapse,” specified Presidential Advisor Oleksiï Arestovitch.
VIDEO. War in Ukraine: “We may be living our last hours”, the desperation of the Mariupol fighters
The commander of the 36th Mariupol Naval Brigade, Sergei Volyna, told him the urgency of speeding up efforts to free the soldiers and civilians besieged at the Steelworks. “It is very difficult to defend yourself with a machine gun against bombers or cruise missiles, or even against groups advancing on dozens of tanks,” Sergey Volyna pointed out. An aide to President Zelenskyy said Ukraine had offered Russia “to hold a special meeting with talks right next to the Azovstal site,” suggesting that “the response is awaited.”
Kyiv offers talks with russia
Ukraine has offered Russia talks next to the huge Azovstal metallurgical complex in Mariupol (southeast), where Ukrainian militants and civilians are still holed up in a devastated city mostly under Russian control, the Ukrainian presidency announced on Sunday.
“We invited the Russians to hold a special session right next to the Azovstal site,” said an aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Oleksiï Arestovitch, during a briefing, indicating that he was waiting “for the response” from the Russian delegation.
Five dead in strikes on railway systems
At least five people were killed and 18 injured in Russian attacks on railway facilities in the Vinnytsia region of central-western Ukraine on Monday, local prosecutors said. Vinnytsia is an important railway junction both within Ukraine and for connections with foreign countries. Most of the international trains crossing the country pass through this region.