LVIV, Ukraine –
Complaining that the West is “filling Ukraine with weapons”, Russia has bombed railway stations and other supply lines across the country, while the European Union has further punished Moscow for Wednesday’s war by proposing a ban on oil imports.
Heavy fighting also broke out at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in the ruined southern port city, according to the mayor. A Russian official denied that Moscow troops had stormed the plant, but the commander of Ukraine’s main military unit inside said Russian troops had invaded the plant.
The Russian military also said it used naval and air-launched missiles to destroy power facilities at five railway stations in Ukraine, while artillery and planes also struck troops’ strongholds and fuel and ammunition depots.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba accused Russia of “resorting to missile terrorism tactics to instill fear in Ukraine”.
Sirens for air strikes sounded in cities across the country on Wednesday night, and attacks were reported near Kyiv, the capital; in Cherkasy and the Dnieper in central Ukraine; and in Zaporozhye to the southeast. In the Dnieper, authorities said a railway facility had been hit. Videos on social media suggest that a bridge was attacked there.
There is no immediate information on the victims or the amount of damage.
In response to the strikes in his night video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “All these crimes will be answered, legally and quite practically – on the battlefield.
The shock of the attacks comes as Russia prepares to celebrate Victory Day on May 9, marking the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany. The world is watching whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will use the occasion to declare victory in Ukraine or expand what he calls a “special military operation.”
A declaration of total war will allow Putin to impose martial law and mobilize reservists to compensate for significant troop losses.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the speculation as “nonsense.”
Meanwhile, Belarus, which Russia is using as a base for its invasion, announced the start of military exercises on Wednesday. A senior Ukrainian official said the country would be ready to act if Belarus joined the fighting.
The attacks on the railway infrastructure were aimed at disrupting the supply of Western weapons, said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the West was “trampling Ukraine with weapons”.
A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the Pentagon’s assessment, said that while the Russians were trying to hit critical infrastructure around the western city of Lviv, particularly on railroads, there was no “noticeable impact” on Ukraine’s efforts to supply its forces. Lviv, near the Polish border, is a major gateway for NATO-supplied weapons.
The shedding of weapons in Ukraine has helped its forces thwart Russia’s initial bid to seize Kyiv, and it looks set to play a central role in the growing battle for Donbass, the eastern industrial region that Moscow says is now its main target.
Ukraine has called on the West to increase arms supplies ahead of this potentially decisive clash. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who was initially delayed in helping arm Ukraine, said his government was considering supplying howitzers, in addition to Gepard anti-aircraft guns and other equipment he agreed to send.
The governor of the Donetsk-based eastern Donetsk region said Russian attacks killed 21 people on Tuesday, the highest number of known deaths since April 8, when a rocket attack on Kramatorsk railway station killed at least 59.
In addition to supplying weapons to Ukraine, Europe and the United States are seeking to punish Moscow with sanctions. On Wednesday, a senior EU official called on the 27-nation bloc to ban imports of Russian oil, an important source of revenue.
“We will make sure that we gradually phase out Russian oil in an orderly manner, in a way that allows us and our partners to provide alternative supply routes and minimize the impact on world markets,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. before the European Parliament. in Strasbourg, France.
The proposal needs unanimous approval from EU countries and is likely to be the subject of fierce debate. Hungary and Slovakia have already said they will not take part in oil sanctions. They may be granted an exemption.
The EU is also talking about a possible embargo on Russian natural gas. The bloc has already approved a halt to coal imports.
Russia’s economy is heavily dependent on oil and natural gas exports. Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said European purchases of Russian energy generated billions in revenue and supported the Kremlin’s “military machine.”
Von der Layen also suggested that Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, and two other major banks be excluded from the international banking payment system SWIFT.
In Mariupol, Mayor Vadim Boychenko said Russian forces were targeting the already destroyed Azovstal plant with heavy artillery, tanks, planes, warships and “heavy bombs piercing concrete 3 to 5 meters thick.”
“Our brave boys are defending this fortress, but it is very difficult,” he said.
Ukrainian fighters said on Tuesday that Russian forces had begun storming the plant. But the Kremlin said that was not true. “There is no attack,” Peskov said.
Denis Prokopenko, commander of the Ukrainian Azov Regiment, which is defending the plant, said Russian forces had invaded the plant.
Prokopenko said in a video that the invasions continued for a second day, “and there are heavy, bloody battles.”
“The situation is extremely difficult, but we continue to carry out the order to keep the defense,” he added.
His wife, Katerina Prokopenko, told the Associated Press: “We do not want them to die. They will not surrender. They are waiting for the bravest countries to evacuate them.”
The UN, meanwhile, said more than 300 civilians had been evacuated Wednesday from Mariupol and other nearby communities. The evacuees arrived in Zaporozhye, about 140 miles (230 kilometers) northwest, where they were given humanitarian aid.
“Many came only with the clothes they wore and we will now support them in this difficult time, including much-needed psychological support,” said Osnat Lubrani, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine.
Over the weekend, more than 100 people – including women, the elderly and 17 children – were evacuated from the plant during a ceasefire in an operation monitored by the United Nations and the Red Cross. But attacks on the plant soon resumed.
The Russian government said in a statement to Telegram that it would open another corridor to evacuate the plant at certain times from Thursday to Saturday. But there was no immediate confirmation of these agreements by other parties, and many previous similar assurances from the Kremlin failed, with Ukrainians blaming ongoing battles by the Russians.
It was not clear how many Ukrainian fighters were still inside, but the Russians said there had been about 2,000 in recent weeks and 500 had been reported wounded. Several hundred civilians remained there, the Ukrainian side said.
Mariupol, and in particular the factory, symbolized the misery caused by the war. The Russians smashed most of the city to dust in a two-month siege that trapped civilians with little food, water, medicine or heat.
The fall of the city will deprive Ukraine of a vital port, allow Russia to build a land corridor to the Crimean peninsula, which it took from Ukraine in 2014, and free up troops for battles elsewhere in Donbas.
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Anna reported from Zaporozhye, Ukraine. Associated Press reporters Jessica Fish of Zaporizhia, Inna Varenitsa and David Keaton in Kyiv, Juras Karmanau in Lviv, Mstislav Chernov in Kharkiv, Lolita S. Baldor in Washington and PA officials around the world contributed to the report.
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