Fresh Mariupol evac on despite fighting reports
US president is expected to sign a new weapons package for Ukraine in the coming days worth $100 million
KYIV: Ukraine said a new attempt had begun on Friday to evacuate scores of civilians trapped in a ruined steel works in the city of Mariupol, after bloody fighting with Russian forces thwarted efforts to bring them to safety the previous day.
UN-brokered evacuations of some of the hundreds of civilians who had taken shelter in the plant’s network of tunnels and bunkers began last weekend, but were halted in recent days by renewed fighting.
“The next stage of rescuing our people from Azovstal is under way at the moment. Information about the results will be provided later,” said Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian presidential staff.
Authorities in Mariupol later accused Russian forces of violating a ceasefire at the steel works and firing at a car involved in evacuation efforts, killing one Ukrainian fighter and wounding six. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s general staff said on Friday that Russian forces were continuing their “attempts to fully take over the Donetsk and Luhansk regions”, areas in the east partially seized by Moscowbacked separatists in 2014.
Also, US President Joe Biden is expected to sign a new weapons package for Ukraine in the coming days worth at least $100 million, three US officials told Reuters on Friday. The latest package would likely include more munitions for systems like the Howitzers.
Victory Day in Mariupol?
Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory in Mariupol on April 21 and ordered his forces to seal off the plant.
Ukrainian officials have said Russia might step up its offensive before May 9, when Moscow commemorates the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two.
“The time will come to mark Victory Day in Mariupol,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a briefing on Friday, when asked about plans for May 9 in territory recently seized by Russianbacked forces.
Meanwhile, a senior official from the Russian parliament said on Friday that Russia will remain in southern Ukraine “forever”, speaking on a visit to the Moscow-controlled city of Kherson. “Russia is here forever. There should be no doubt about this. There will be no return to the past,” Andrey Turchak said, according to a statement from the ruling United Russia party. “We will live together, develop this rich region, rich in historical heritage, rich in the people who live here,” Turchak added.
Hospitals devastated
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that nearly 400 hospitals and other medical facilities in the country had been destroyed or damaged since the invasion.
Also, US President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders will hold talks with Ukrainian president in a virtual meeting on Sunday, a spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council said on Friday. Leaders from the Group of Seven countries will also discuss potential new sanctions against Russia on the same day, according to people familiar with the plan.
7 howitzers for Ukraine
Germany will deliver seven selfpropelled howitzers to Ukraine, defence minister Christine Lambrecht said on Friday, in a further reversal of a longtime policy not to send heavy weapons to war zones due to the country’s Nazi past.
Grains stuck in Ukraine
Nearly 25 million tonnes of grains are stuck in Ukraine and unable to leave the country due to infrastructure challenges and blocked Black Sea ports including Mariupol, a UN food agency official said on Friday.