Russian forces enter Azovstal steel plant for the first time
The Ukrainian commander leading troops entrenched in a steel plant in Mariupol has said that “hard, bloody battles” are taking place.
Ukrainian forces say they have repelled Russian attacks in the east and recaptured some territory, even as Russia proceeds to impede the flow of Western weapons to Ukraine by targeting railway stations and other supply line targets around the country.
The Ukrainian military reported that fierce fighting also took place at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, the last stronghold of the Ukrainian resistance in the ruined southern port city.
A Russian official previously denied that troops were entering the factory, but the commander of the main Ukrainian unit inside said Russian troops had entered the factory’s territory.
“With the support of aircraft, the enemy continues the attack to gain control of the factory,” the General Staff in Kyiv said, adding that the Russians were “trying to destroy the units.” Ukrainian taste”.
To the west of Mariupol, Ukrainian forces had some advantage on the borders of the southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv, where Russian troops are said to be trying to launch a counterattack and repel 11 attacks. Russian offensive in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the military said.
Five people were killed and at least 25 wounded in shelling on several eastern cities in the past 24 hours, Ukrainian officials said.
- A three-day ceasefire, announced by Russia, will begin today (Thursday) to allow around 200 civilians to leave the area of the Azovstal steel mills.
- Russian forces are said to have entered the steel structures themselves, not the surrounding area, for the first time
- The EU has announced its intention to end all Russian oil imports as part of a new package of sanctions. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the transition would “not be easy” but stressed that the group “simply has to”.
- Hungary says it will veto EU decision to cut Russian oil imports
- New analysis shows that around 600 people died after the Russian attack on the Mariupol theater in March
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Here are the latest updates on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Latest updates: Thursday, 05/05/2022, 12:31
Fierce battle at the Mariupol . steel plant
Ukraine’s military says it has recaptured areas to the south and repelled Russian attacks in the east as fighting rages at a steel mill in Mariupol – where Ukrainian troops have been hiding in the mountains. tunnels and bunkers to fend off the onslaught of Russia.
Ukrainian warplanes held out at the vast Azovstal steel plant – the last drive of resistance in a city controlled by Moscow’s forces.
“With the support of aircraft, the enemy has continued the attack to gain control of the plant,” the Ukrainian Army General Staff said on Thursday.
Video posted on social media on Wednesday night shows Russian air strikes on the steel plant.
Ursula von der Leyen: ‘We will make sure we get rid of Russian oil in an orderly way’
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said ending the EU’s dependence on Russian oil “will not be easy but we simply have to do it”.
This would be an outright import ban on all Russian oil, seaborne and pipeline, crude and refined oil.
We will ensure that we remove Russian oil in an orderly manner, in a way that allows us and our partners to secure alternative supply routes and minimize the impact on the global market.
Mariupol evacuees ‘talk about the hell they’ve been through’
Osnat Lubrani, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, said evacuees from the besieged city of Mariupol spoke of the “hell” they had experienced in the city.
Over the past few days, accompanying the displaced people, I have heard mothers, children and elderly grandparents talk about the sufferings of day-to-day life under the relentless barrage of shelling and fear. fear of death, along with shortages of water, food, and sanitation.
They talk about the hell they’ve been through since this war started, seek refuge in the Azovstal factory, many of them separated from family members whose fate they still don’t know.
PM: threatening or attacking British diplomats in Ukraine is ‘absolutely not understandable’
Boris Johnson has said that any threats or attacks against British diplomats in Ukraine are “absolutely not understandable”.
Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain program about the UK’s ambassador, the Prime Minister said: “I am proud of our diplomats in Ukraine and Melinda Simmons, who will return to open the embassy and she He has done an amazing job.”
Mr Johnson added that threats to British diplomats were “absolutely not a trivial thing” and “there is no justification for it”.
He said the UK was “leading the world in helping Ukrainians defend themselves against barbaric, barbaric aggression” and later added that the UK had also “coordinated the world”. in coming up with a very tough economic sanctions package.”
“We are not saying that we do this to promote some geopolitical change or lead to some outcome in Moscow,” he said.
“What we care about is the Ukrainian people and their suffering. It is completely unjustifiable for a free country like Ukraine to be overwhelmed and wiped out as it has been.”
PM: ‘This is Ukraine’s finest hour, an epic chapter in your national story’
Boris Johnson will address the Kyiv parliament today, where he is expected to say:
“As my country faced the threat of invasion during the Second World War, our Parliament, like yours, continued to meet throughout the conflict, and the British people were able to show such solidarity and determination that we remember that the moment of greatest danger is our best hour.
“This is Ukraine’s greatest hour, an epic chapter in your national story that will be remembered and told for generations to come.
“Your descendants will say that the Ukrainians have taught the world that the brute force of an aggressor is worth nothing against the moral force of a people determined to be free.”
Russian football teams continue to be banned from participating in UEFA competitions
Russian football clubs and the national team have suffered more sanctions from football body UEFA.
The country will be banned from competing in the women’s Euro 2022 tournament this summer as the invasion of Ukraine continues.
Teams at club level will also continue to be banned from UEFA competitions next season, after they were excluded from this year’s ongoing competitions “until further notice”.
UEFA has also confirmed that Russian bids to host the Euro 2028 or 2032 men’s tournaments are currently ineligible.
Lavrov’s comments on Israel’s Hitler are said to be ‘unforgivable’
Israel has attacked Russia over its foreign minister’s “unforgivable” comments about Nazism and anti-Semitism – including claims that Adolf Hitler was Jewish.
Israel, which summoned the Russian ambassador in response, said the remarks blamed the Jews for their own murder during the Holocaust.
It marks a sharp deterioration in relations between the two countries at a time when Israel seeks to remain neutral between Russia and Ukraine due to its security needs in the Middle East.
What did Sergei Lavrov say?
When asked in an interview with an Italian news channel about Russia’s claim that it invaded Ukraine to “denuclearize” the country, Sergei Lavrov said that Ukraine could still have Nazi elements right away. even if some figures, including the country’s president, are Jewish.
“So when they said ‘How can Nazi Germany survive if we are Jews?’ In my opinion, Hitler is also of Jewish origin, so it doesn’t make absolute sense. For a while, we’ve heard the Jews say that the biggest opposers are the Jews,” he said, telling the station in Russian, voiced by an Italian translation.
Israel’s response
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called Mr Lavrov’s statement “unforgivable, scandalous and a terrible historical mistake”.
“The Jews did not commit suicide during the Holocaust,” Mr. Lapid said. “The lowest level of racism against Jews is to blame the Jews themselves for anti-Semitism.”
Other accounts from Mariupol . evacuees
While official evacuations have often stalled, many people have sought to flee Mariupol in recent weeks.
Others could not escape.
“People who don’t have cars can’t leave. They are desperate,” said Olena Gibert, who was among those who arrived at the UN-backed reception center in Zaporizhzhia.
“You need to go get them. Humans have nothing. We have nothing. “
Anastasiia Dembytska, who took advantage of the brief ceasefire surrounding the evacuation of civilians from the steel mill to leave with her daughter, grandson and dog, told the Associated Press (AP) news agency where her family lives survive by cooking on a makeshift stove and drinking well water.
She said she could see the steel mill from her window, when she dared to look out.
“We could see rockets flying and clouds of smoke covering the factory,” she said.
Ukraine claims to have destroyed two Russian ships
A Ukrainian drone destroyed two Russian patrol boats in the Black Sea, the head of Ukraine’s military said.
Chief of the General Staff Valeriy Zaluzhniy said: “Two Russian Raptor-class ships were destroyed at dawn this morning near Zmiinyi (Snake) Island.
Ukraine’s military has released unverified drone footage showing two ships being targeted by air-launched missiles while on patrol.
A Mariupol evacuee’s account of ‘terror’
Several people who made it from the Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol described their experiences.
Natalia Usmanova, 37, said Sunday after being evacuated from the sprawling factory site and described the bombing: “I was afraid the bunker wouldn’t stand it – I was terrified.
“When the bunker started shaking I was so excited, my husband can confirm that. I was very worried that the bunker would get stuck. “
Usmanova recalls the lack of oxygen and the widespread fear among those sheltering down there.
“We haven’t seen the sun for too long,” she added, speaking in the village of Bezimenne in an area of Donetsk controlled by Russian-backed separatists, about 30 kilometers east of Mariupol. .
She said: “You can’t imagine what we went through – the horror. “I’ve lived there, worked there all my life, but what we saw there was horrible.”
https://www.nationalworld.com/news/world/ukraine-war-russia-mariupol-azovstal-steel-plant-3583546 Russian forces enter Azovstal steel plant for the first time
