WASHINGTON – The Pentagon says most of the Russian forces around the port city of Mariupol have left and headed north, leaving roughly the equivalent of two battalion tactical groups or about 2,000 troops.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday that although Russian airstrikes continue to bomb Mariupol, Moscow’s forces are still making only “destructive” and growing progress as the main battle continues in the eastern Donbass region.
He said he had not noticed a change in Russian behavior or momentum as May 9 approached.
Russia celebrates Victory Day on May 9, the anniversary of the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II. There have been speculations that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to highlight a major victory in Ukraine when addressing the traditional military parade in Red Square.
Kirby said the United States still estimates that Russia is lagging behind schedule and failing to make the expected progress in Donbass.
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KEY DEVELOPMENT OF THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:
– “It looked like goodbye”: the defenders of Mariupol stand up
– AP interview: Belarus admits Russia’s war has dragged on
– The United States shared intelligence about the cruiser “Moscow” before the strike that sank it
– $ 6.5 billion raised at a donors’ conference for Ukraine
– The United States announces the confiscation of a superyacht owned by a Russian oligarch
– Europeans are estimating the cost of cutting Russian energy because of Ukraine
– Easy exit from the steel plant is considered unlikely for the Ukrainian troops
Follow all AP stories about Russia’s war against Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
MARIUPOL, Ukraine – A clean-up operation took place in downtown Mariupol, although Ukrainian fighters opposed Russian troops at the city’s pulverized steel plant. The rest of the city is already under Russian control.
Municipal workers, as well as volunteers, were spotted clearing debris near gutted, charred buildings Thursday, including the drama theater, where hundreds died when the Russian military bombed it in March. Some workers hung a Russian flag on a high pole.
A volunteer who gave only his first name, Dennis, said he was helping restore parks and military monuments so the city could celebrate Victory Day on Monday. Russia celebrates victory over Nazi Germany in World War II on May 9.
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Kyiv, Ukraine – In a video address Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described a “catastrophic” lack of access to medical services and medicines in parts of the country under Russian occupation.
In these areas, he said, there is almost no cure for those suffering from cancer and where insulin for diabetics is difficult to find or non-existent. He said antibiotics were in short supply.
Zelensky also said that during the war, the Russian military had already fired 2014 missiles at Ukraine, while 2,682 flights of Russian warplanes were registered in the Ukrainian sky. He said the destroyed or damaged infrastructure includes nearly 400 hospitals and other medical facilities.
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WASHINGTON – Former US President George W. Bush said he spoke with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on Thursday, “Winston Churchill of our time.”
“I thanked the president for his leadership, his example and his commitment to freedom, and congratulated the courage of the Ukrainian people,” Bush said in a Twitter post that included photos of the two men speaking via video link.
“President Zelensky has assured me that they will not hesitate in their fight against Putin’s barbarism and banditry. Americans are inspired by their strength and endurance. We will continue to stay with the Ukrainians as they defend their freedom. “
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UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations says a third operation is under way to evacuate civilians from the besieged steel mine in Mariupol and the city, which is surrounded by Russian forces.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the UN Security Council on Thursday that a third evacuation was under way, and UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said his goal was to evacuate more civilians from Mariupol and the stretched Azovstal steel plant.
Guterres said 101 civilians had been evacuated from the Azovstal plant, along with 59 others from a neighboring area, in the first operation, which ended on Tuesday. He said that in the second operation, which ended on Wednesday night, more than 320 civilians were evacuated from the city of Mariupol and the surrounding area.
The Secretary General negotiated an agreement with the Presidents of Russia and Ukraine to evacuate civilians from the besieged areas, including Mariupol. Guterres expressed hope that continued co-operation with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the two governments “would lead to more humanitarian pauses to enable civilians to get through combat safely and help reach those in critical need”.
Griffiths told a UN conference on promises to Ukraine in Warsaw, Poland, earlier Thursday that the convoy left for Mariupol on Thursday and expects to arrive on Friday morning and hopes to evacuate civilians from the Azovstal plant.
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Kyiv, Ukraine – The district governor said a rocket attack on the city of Kramatorsk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region has injured 25 people and caused extensive damage.
In a Telegram post, Pavlo Kirilenko said 810 apartments in 32 high-rise buildings had been damaged by an air strike on Thursday morning. The publication includes photos of many buildings turned into ruins.
Kirilenko added that six private houses, two schools, a kindergarten and a medical facility were also damaged. He said he had not received any reports of deaths.
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Kyiv, Ukraine – The Ukrainian army claims that Russian troops have made “unsuccessful” attempts to advance in the eastern Kharkiv and Donetsk regions.
A Facebook post posted on Thursday afternoon in the official profile of the Ukrainian General Staff said that the Russians also continued to launch missile strikes on transport facilities to prevent the movement of humanitarian goods and military-technical assistance.
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MOSCOW – The Russian military has announced that its air force has destroyed 45 Ukrainian military sites in the latest series of strikes.
A spokesman for Russia’s Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, said targets hit by the Russian Air Force on Thursday included Ukrainian troops and arms concentrations and an ammunition depot in the eastern Luhansk region.
Konashenkov said Russian missile forces had hit a Ukrainian artillery battery at its firing positions near the town of Zarozhne, a battery of hurricane-propelled grenade launchers near Nikolaev and four other areas of concentration of military personnel and military equipment. He said Russian artillery had struck 152 fortresses of Ukrainian troops and 38 firing positions of artillery.
Konashenkov’s allegations could not be independently confirmed.
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BERLIN – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the nation’s foreign minister would soon pay an official visit to Ukraine after the two sides resolved a diplomatic dispute Thursday.
The German government has exchanged with the Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin, after Kyiv seems to have rejected the offer to visit the German president.
It was unclear exactly when Foreign Minister Analena Berbok would visit Kyiv and whether she would meet with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.
Speaking after meeting with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Scholz also said Germany was working hard to build new energy import infrastructure along its northern coast to help replace gas and oil currently supplied by Russia via a pipeline. He said Germany was ready to co-operate closely with those countries that do not have direct access to seaports.
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ROME – The United Nations Food Aid Agency is calling for the Black Sea ports in Ukraine to be reopened to allow the transportation of wheat and corn, on which many poor nations depend.
The Rome-based World Food Program said in a call Thursday that before the war, which began in Russia, 98% of Ukraine’s grain exports passed through those ports.
A statement said that a month after the start of the war on February 24, export prices of wheat rose by 22% and corn by 20% – in addition to the already sharp rise in 2021 and earlier this year.
The UN agency says ports in southern Ukraine hit by heavy shelling must resume operations “to protect Ukrainian agricultural production and allow exports that are crucial to Ukraine’s economy and global food security.” He cited war-torn impoverished Yemen, which imports more than half of its wheat from Ukraine or Russia and is dependent on food imports.
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JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has said he has accepted an apology from Russian President Vladimir Putin for controversial remarks about the Holocaust made by Moscow’s top diplomat.
Russia’s statement on the call did not mention an apology.
An Israeli statement said the two leaders spoke by telephone on Thursday and also discussed plans to evacuate civilians from the besieged steel mine in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
A statement from Bennett’s office said Putin “promised to allow the evacuation of civilians, including wounded civilians, through a UN humanitarian corridor and the Red Cross.”
Bennett spoke with Putin after talks Wednesday with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky as the Israeli leader appears to have renewed his role as a mediator in the conflict.
That role was called into question earlier this week, when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested that Ukraine may have Nazi elements even though Zelensky was Jewish, and then suggested that Adolf Hitler was of “Jewish descent.”
The Israelis expressed shock and outrage at the remarks that seem to blame the Jews themselves for the Holocaust, and the government summoned the Russian ambassador in protest.
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ROME – The Italian government is taking significant steps …
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