- Ukraine wants talks on evacuations from the Azovstal steel plant
- The number of people fleeing Ukraine already exceeds 5 million
- The Russian ultimatum at the Mariupol plant is again canceled
April 21 (Reuters) – Russia’s top ally, Vladimir Putin, has said Russian forces will take over the last major stronghold of resistance in the besieged city of Mariupol on Thursday after Ukraine offered to negotiate the evacuation of troops and civilians.
Mariupol will be the largest city captured by Russia since invading Ukraine eight weeks ago in an attack that took longer than some military analysts expected, saw more than five million people flee abroad and turn cities into ruins.
“Before noon or in the afternoon, Azovstal will be completely under the control of the forces of the Russian Federation,” Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Russian Chechen Republic, whose forces are fighting in Ukraine, told the steel plant.
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The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine was not available for comment.
Dozens of civilians managed to leave the strategically important southeastern port on Wednesday in a small bus convoy, according to Reuters witnesses, avoiding the fiercest battle of the war.
Commander of the Ukrainian Marines Sergei Volny said the fighters at the steel plant may not be able to survive for long. President Vladimir Zelenski said about 1,000 civilians were sheltered there.
Ukraine is ready for a “special round of talks” without conditions “to save our boys (far right) Azov (battalion), military, civilians, children, alive and wounded”, tweeted negotiator Mikhail Podolyak.
Kyiv has offered to exchange Russian prisoners of war for the safe passage of civilians and trapped soldiers. It was not known whether Russia had responded to the offer of special talks.
The fighters remain hidden in the factory and have ignored Russia’s ultimatum to surrender. Fewer civilians left on Wednesday than expected. Read more
Ukraine has said it has so far resisted an attack by thousands of Russian troops trying to advance what Kyiv calls the Battle of Donbass, a new campaign to seize two eastern provinces that Moscow claims on behalf of the separatists.
Russian forces have struck dozens of military sites in eastern Ukraine and shot down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter near the village of Koroviy Yar, the defense ministry said.
Putin said Wednesday’s first test launch of Russia’s Sarmatian intercontinental ballistic missile, a new and long-awaited addition to its nuclear arsenal, “would provide food for thought for those who are trying to” threaten the country “in the midst of fierce aggressive rhetoric.
Russia calls its invasion a “special military operation” to demilitarize and “denationalize” Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western allies reject this as a false pretext for a war of choice.
G7 finance ministers said at a meeting Wednesday that Russia should no longer participate in international forums, including the G20, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank this week. Read more
Senior officials from Britain, the United States and Canada have left Russia for a Group of 20 meeting in Washington, revealing deep divisions in the bloc of major economies. Read more
The West has imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia, and Washington has gone further on Wednesday, imposing restrictions on dozens of people and organizations, including a commercial bank. Read more
WINDING CLOUDS OF SMOKE
Mariupol, once a thriving maritime city of 400,000, is now a wasteland where corpses lie in the streets as Russia bombs the Azovstal steel plant with bombs to destroy bunkers, the Kyiv government said.
Sviatoslav Kalamar, deputy commander of the Azov Regiment in Mariupol, said there were still about 80-100 civilians in several bunkers under the plant.
Black smoke rose from the plant on Wednesday as evacuees lined up to board buses.
Tamara, a 64-year-old pensioner, said she would stay with her sister in Zaporozhye. She left with her husband, daughter, son-in-law and grandson.
“It’s a pleasure … to leave after this nightmare. We lived in basements for 30 days,” she said in tears.
Ukraine has accused Russian forces of failing to abide by a local ceasefire agreement long enough to allow large numbers of people to leave. Russia did not respond immediately to the accusation.
Moscow denies targeting civilians and accuses Ukraine of failing previous attempts to organize humanitarian corridors from Mariupol.
If Russia captures Mariupol, it will link territory held by pro-Russian separatists in the east with the Crimea region, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
Moscow was forced to withdraw from northern Ukraine after the attack on Kyiv was repulsed last month, but returned troops for the offensive in the east, which began this week.
Russia is focusing on advancing towards the city of Slavyansk, but “so far they have failed”, said adviser to Ukrainian President Alexei Arestovich.
Meanwhile, peace talks are stalled.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said peace talks are likely to fail, and world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, have agreed to invite them this week to continue supplying weapons to Ukraine. Read more
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Report by Reuters journalists; Writing by Costas Pitas and Stephen Coates; Edited by Grant McCool and Himani Sarkar
Our standards: Thomson Reuters’ principles of trust.
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