Russian missiles pounded Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and other places, as Moscow said that its soldiers had evacuated Mariupol’s metropolitan area and that just a tiny group of Ukrainian fighters remained inside a steelworks in the beleaguered southern port.
Russia’s assertion that it had almost completely gained control of Mariupol, the war’s bloodiest battleground and biggest humanitarian disaster, could not be independently confirmed. It would be the first major city to fall to Russian troops since the invasion on February 24th.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the Ukrainska Pravda news outlet that “the situation in Mariupol is really challenging.” “Our troops are obstructed, and the injured are obstructed. A humanitarian catastrophe exists… The males, on the other hand, are protecting themselves.”
Following the drowning of the Black Sea fleet’s flagship, Russia conducted fresh long-range assaults, claiming to have hit a tank repair plant in Kyiv. An explosion was heard, and smoke billowed over the Darnytskyi region in the southeast. At least one person was murdered, according to the mayor, and doctors were battling to rescue others. find out more
Russian jets taking out from Belarus launched missiles towards the Lviv area near the Polish border, according to the Ukrainian military, and four cruise missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defenses.
So far, the western city has escaped damage and serves as a safe haven for migrants and foreign assistance groups.
Reuters journalists in Russian-controlled areas of Mariupol visited the Ilyich steelworks, one of two metals factories where defenders have been hiding in subterranean tunnels and bunkers. On Friday, Moscow claimed to have taken it.
With no trace of defenders present, the plant was reduced to a rubble of twisted steel and shattered concrete. A lady with a pink coat and white sneakers was among the people whose remains were spread on surrounding streets.
A fence beside a demolished fueling station has been spraypainted with the word “mined.” One red automobile drove slowly along an otherwise vacant street, the word “children” written on a card pinned to the window in a rare indication of life.
According to RIA news agency, Russian soldiers have “fully cleansed” Mariupol’s metropolitan area of Ukrainian forces and have blockaded the “remnants” at the Azovstal steelworks. According to RIA, Ukrainian troops in the city have lost almost 4,000 personnel as of Saturday.
The Russian charges elicited no immediate response from Kyiv.
A missile attack killed at least one person and wounded 18 others, according to the governor of Kharkiv region in Ukraine’s east.
As rescuers removed heaps of wreckage that blocked the road outside, smoke billowed from burning automobiles and the ruins of what seemed to be an office building at the site of an assault in the city.
Russia claimed to have hit a military vehicle repair plant in Mykolaiv, a city on the southern border.
The assaults came after Russia said on Friday that it will step up long-range strikes in reprisal for unnamed acts of “sabotage” and “terrorism,” only hours after its Black Sea flagship, the Moskva, was sunk.
The ship, whose sinking has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance, was attacked by Ukrainian missiles, according to Kyiv and Washington. According to Moscow, the ship sunk following a fire, and the crew of roughly 500 people was evacuated.
The Russian Defense Ministry released footage showing Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov, the navy’s commander, speaking with roughly a hundred servicemen who were supposed to be crew members on a
