Update on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

The situation on the ground, international reactions, sanctions: a point about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

– Desperate plea from Mariupol fighters –

“Maybe we live our last days, until our last hours,” said a Ukrainian military commander besieged in Mariupol, a strategic port in southeastern Ukraine that Moscow has sworn to control.

“The enemy is ten times greater than us,” declared Sergei Volina, of the 36th brigade of the National Navy, entrenched in the vast Azovstal steel complex.

We call on all world leaders and ask them to help us. We ask them to use extraction procedures and transfer us to the territory of a third country.”

– Mariupol: Agreement on the evacuation corridor (Kyiv) –

A Ukrainian official said that an agreement had been reached with Russia on the establishment of a humanitarian corridor to evacuate women, children and the elderly from Mariupol to the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia (south).

On Tuesday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed his call for the evacuation of civilians still present in the coastal city.

A statement issued by the pro-Russian separatist authorities said that about 140 civilians were evacuated from the city on Tuesday. These allegations were not independently verifiable.

– ‘New phase’ of the war –

Russia announced, on Tuesday, that it carried out dozens of air and missile strikes in eastern Ukraine, starting a “new phase” of the war, according to the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergey Lavrov.

According to Moscow, the “high-precision missiles” “neutralized 13 strongholds” as well as “groupings” of troops near the main city of Sloviansk in the Donetsk region.

The Ukrainian governor of the Lugansk region, Sergeych Gadak, declared that the fighting was “ongoing” in many cities, “it’s hell,” calling on residents to flee.

– Attacks repelled in Donbass –

The staff of the Ukrainian forces confirmed, on the evening of Tuesday to Wednesday, that they repelled 10 Russian attacks and destroyed in particular “12 tanks” during the past 24 hours in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions.

– Arrival of military aid –

The Norwegian government announced on Wednesday that Norway has donated about 100 French-designed anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine.

The Ministry of Defense said in a press release that the donation, which has already been made, relates to the Mistral launchers of about 100 missiles that have so far been on board the ships of the Norwegian Navy.

On Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Ukraine had also received fighter jets and spare parts to bolster its air force, declining to say how many or which countries had supplied them.

After a shipment of howitzer artillery pieces announced last week by US President Joe Biden, this announcement reflects a change in the position of the Westerners, who for more than a month have refused to provide Ukraine with heavy weapons to avoid any escalation of the conflict.

– Charles Michel in Kyiv –

Charles Michel, President of the European Council, the body representing EU member states, arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday morning, he announced in a tweet, as Ukraine faces Russia’s new offensive range in the east of the country.

“In Kyiv today, in the heart of a free and democratic Europe,” Charles Michel said, in a message accompanied by a photo taken on the platform of a station in the Ukrainian capital.

burs-kd / mw / mba