KRAMATORSK,
Ukraine —
Russian troops aimed to
take control of the city of Mariupol on Tuesday, part of an anticipated massive
onslaught across eastern Ukraine, as defending forces tried desperately to hold
them back.
اضافة اعلان
Russia is believed to be trying to connect
occupied Crimea with
Moscow-backed separatist territories Donetsk and Lugansk
in Donbas, and has laid siege to the strategically located city, once home to
more than 400,000 people.
“It is likely that in the future the enemy
will try to take control of the city of Mariupol, capture Popasna, and launch
an offensive in the direction of Kurakhove in order to reach the administrative
borders of Donetsk region,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of
Ukraine said on Facebook.
The Russian defense ministry said its army
had thwarted an attempt to break the siege with “airstrikes and artillery fire”
at a factory in a northern district of the city.
But the Ukrainian army insisted that “the
defense of Mariupol continues”.
In his nightly address, President
Volodymyr Zelensky made another plea to his allies for more weapons to boost the defense
of the city.
“We are not getting as much as we need to
end this war sooner. To completely destroy the enemy on our land... in
particular, to unblock Mariupol,” he said.
He made a similar appeal for military
assistance to South Korea’s National Assembly earlier in the day, telling
lawmakers Russia had “completely destroyed Mariupol and burned it to ashes”
killing “at least tens of thousands of people”.
Chemical weapons allegations
Late Monday, Britain said it was trying to
verify reports that Russia had also used chemical weapons in the city.
Western officials have previously expressed
concerns that as the conflict drags into its seventh week, Russia could resort
to such extreme measures.
Ukrainian lawmaker Ivanna Klympush said
Russia had used an “unknown substance” and that people were suffering from
respiratory failure.
But deputy defense minister Ganna Maliar
said the purported chemical attack was more likely phosphorous munitions.
“Officials conclusions will be made later,”
she told Ukrainian television.
Eduard Basurin, a senior official in the
separatist area of
Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, has spoken of the possibility of
such arms being used in Mariupol but insisted on Tuesday that “no chemical
weapons have been used” in the city.
Elsewhere in the east, heavy bombardment
continued as civilians were urged to flee ahead of an expected Russian troop
surge in the region.
Russian forces are reinforcing around the
Donbas region, notably near the town of Izyum, but have not yet launched a full
offensive, Pentagon officials said Monday.
They reported a Russian convoy had been
observed heading for Izyum, an hour’s drive north of
Kramatorsk, saying it
appeared to be a mix of personnel carriers, armored vehicles, and possible
artillery.
President Vladimir Putin insisted that
Russia’s own security was at stake in Donbas, after talks at the Russian
spaceport in Vostochny with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
“What we are doing is helping people —
rescuing them on the one hand and on the other taking measures to assure
Russia’s security,” he said, according to Russian news agencies.
Ukraine’s defense ministry said it believed
a major assault would happen soon.
“We don’t know precisely when, but the
preparation is almost over,” spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told a briefing on
Monday.
Such signs of a build-up in Donbas suggest
hopes of an imminent diplomatic solution remain slim.
Meanwhile, the toll on towns previously
occupied by Russian forces during their month-long offensive to take
Kyiv was
still coming to light.
AFP saw the bodies of three men in civilian
clothes exhumed from gardens in Andriivka, 33 kilometers west of the capital as
relatives gathered to learn the fate of their kin.
UN Security Council (UNSC) officials on
Monday called for an investigation into violence against women during the
conflict.
“This war must stop. Now,” Sima Bahous,
director of the UN women’s agency, told the Council.
“We are increasingly hearing of rape and
sexual violence. These allegations must be independently investigated to ensure
justice and accountability.”
The UNSC will hold another meeting next week
on the humanitarian situation there, in a bid to keep pressure on Russia
despite its veto power over the body, diplomats said.
More than 4.5 million
Ukrainian refugees have now fled their country, the UN refugee agency said — 90 percent of them
women and children.
The war has displaced more than 10 million people
overall.
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