Mariupol plant under heavy assault as new evacuation convoy heads to site
The situation at the embattled steel plant in Mariupol is “critical” as the last Ukrainian fighters in the port city face “constant storming” by Russian forces, despite Moscow’s promises of a cease-fire, a police chief inside Azovstal Steel and Iron Works told The Washington Post.
While a top Ukrainian official said fighting at the plant is ongoing and that Russian troops had earlier been “pushed out by our defenders,” Moscow’s grip on the rest of the devastated port city appears to be tightening.
City officials say Russia is clearing debris from a bombed-out theater as it prepared to host a parade in Mariupol to mark the annual Victory Day celebration.
Drone footage published by the right-wing Azov Regiment’s Telegram channel shows multiple explosions at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, where heavy fighting has continued.
Black, white and gray smoke blanketed the plant as fires erupted, the footage showed.
Earlier on Thursday, Mykhailo Vershynin, a top police official inside the plant, has described Russian forces repeatedly attempting to storm the plant and targeting the site with the “support of aviation, artillery and armored equipment.”
Meanwhile, a new United Nations and Red Cross convoy is heading to the plant in hopes of rescuing more civilians trapped at the site. Aid workers are expected to arrive by Friday. A U.N. coordinator said the civilians have been living in a “bleak hell.”
U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said Thursday that nearly 500 civilians have been evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol and its surroundings in recent days.
On Monday, more than 100 civilians were evacuated from the Azovstal plant, including women and children, and 60 others joined the convoy on the outskirts of the battered port city, Guterres said. They were then moved to safety, he added.
In the second operation, completed Wednesday night, more than 320 civilians were evacuated from the Mariupol area.
Martin Griffiths, the U.N. humanitarian affairs chief, described the devastating toll of the war on Ukrainian civilians. He noted that 13 million Ukrainians have fled the country and 7.7 million have been displaced internally. He said many others, including the elderly and people with health issues, were not able to escape.
Also Thursday:
The United States and Britain say they have seen no signs that Belarus aims to join ally Russia’s invasion, even after its newly-announced military drills. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he did not expect the war to “drag on this way.”
European diplomats met as they continue to negotiate proposals to phase out Russian oil imports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered a rare apology on Thursday to Israel over recent antisemitic comments by Russia’s foreign minister.
Overnight, Russian forces struck the city of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine, injuring at least 25 civilians and destroying nine homes and a school, according to the regional military chief.