Ukrainian soldiers have entrenched themselves in the vast Azovstal steelworks of this port on the southern tip of the Donbass, which has been transformed into a martyr town by nearly two months of Russian shelling and siege. They refuse to surrender, and the deputy commander of the Azov battalion Sviatoslav Palamar telegrams asking for security guarantees from the “civilized world” to get out. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said they were carrying about 1,000 civilians, women and children “and” hundreds of wounded.
“No Fly Passes By”
In this context, “I consider the planned attack on the industrial area to be inappropriate. I order it to be canceled,” Putin said during a meeting with his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, which was broadcast on Russian television. “We have to think […] In order to protect the life and health of our soldiers and our officers, we must not enter these catacombs and crawl underground,” the Kremlin master affirmed. “Call off this whole area so no fly can get through,” he added. After several ultimatums from the Russian army, he, too, called on the fighters to surrender, promising them to “save their lives” and be “treated with dignity.”
Previously, Kyiv had made a proposal. “We are ready to hold a ‘special negotiation session’ in Mariupol. To save our boys (the battalion) Azov, soldiers, civilians, children, living and wounded. All,” Mykhaïlo Podolyak, adviser to the Ukrainian Presidency and one of the chief negotiators with Russia, tweeted on Wednesday evening.
civilian buses
Local authorities fear more than 20,000 people have died in Mariupol due to the fighting but also to the lack of food, water and electricity. The Russian army has controlled a large part of the city for days and has even brought western journalists there.
While evacuations of civilians have been rare and dangerous to organize throughout the siege, Ukraine’s First Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced on Thursday that four buses carrying civilians have been able to leave the city.
They drive towards Zaporijia, a journey of about 200 km, which can sometimes take several days because there are many checkpoints to be passed in this region of south-eastern Ukraine where fighting is ongoing. More bus departures were expected throughout the day.
Failure of the humanitarian corridor
In the east, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry on Wednesday morning reported “attempted attacks” on the locations of Sulyguivka and Dibrivné in the Kharkiv region (east) and on Rubizhné and Severodonetsk in the Lugansk region (east). “The situation is getting more complicated by the hour,” Lugansk Governor Sergiï Gaïdaï wrote on Telegram, renewing his calls for the evacuation of civilians. “Get yourself to safety […]. Go! “, he wrote.
A senior US Defense Department official also said Russia had increased its military presence in eastern and southern Ukraine.
European support
“This new phase” of the war, as Russian diplomatic chief Sergei Lavrov described Tuesday, promises to be fierce. Especially since Ukraine is now receiving heavy weaponry that Westerners have previously been reluctant to provide.
During a visit to Kyiv, where he met Mr Zelenskyy, European Council President Charles Michel assured that the EU will “do everything to support them [l’Ukraine] and make sure Ukraine wins the war”.