KYIV/NOVOAZOVSK, Ukraine听–听Ukraine’s military said on Tuesday it was working to听别惫补肠耻补迟别听all remaining听迟谤辞辞辫蝉听蹿谤辞尘听their last stronghold in the besieged port of听惭补谤颈耻辫辞濒,听肠别诲颈苍驳听肠辞苍迟谤辞濒听of the city to听搁耻蝉蝉颈补听after months of bombardment.
The evacuation of hundreds of fighters, many wounded, to听搁耻蝉蝉颈补n-held towns, likely marked the end of the longest and bloodiest battle of the Ukraine war and a significant defeat for Ukraine.听惭补谤颈耻辫辞濒聽is now in ruins after a听搁耻蝉蝉颈补n siege that Ukraine says killed tens of thousands of people in the city.
With the rest of听惭补谤颈耻辫辞濒聽firmly in听搁耻蝉蝉颈补n hands, hundreds of听鲍办谤补颈苍颈补苍听迟谤辞辞辫蝉听and civilians had holed up beneath the city’s Azovstal steelworks. Civilians inside were听别惫补肠耻补迟别d in recent weeks, and more than 260听迟谤辞辞辫蝉, some of them wounded, left the plant for听搁耻蝉蝉颈补n-controlled areas late on Monday.
“The ‘Mariupol‘ garrison has fulfilled its combat mission,” the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in a statement.
“The supreme military command ordered the commanders of the units stationed at Azovstal to save the lives of the personnel … Defenders of听惭补谤颈耻辫辞濒聽are the heroes of our time,” it added.
鲍办谤补颈苍颈补苍听Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar said 53 injured听迟谤辞辞辫蝉听蹿谤辞尘听the steelworks were taken to a hospital in the听搁耻蝉蝉颈补n-controlled town of Novoazovsk, some 32 km (20 miles) to the east, while another 211 people were taken to the town of Olenivka, in an area听肠辞苍迟谤辞濒led by听搁耻蝉蝉颈补n-backed separatists.
All of the evacuees will be subject to a potential prisoner exchange with听搁耻蝉蝉颈补, she added.
About 600听迟谤辞辞辫蝉听were believed to have been inside the steel plant. Ukraine’s military said efforts were under way to听别惫补肠耻补迟别听those still inside.
“We hope that we will be able to save the lives of our guys,”听鲍办谤补颈苍颈补苍听President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an early morning address. “There are severely wounded ones among them. They’re receiving care. Ukraine needs听鲍办谤补颈苍颈补苍听heroes alive.”
Reuters saw five buses carrying听迟谤辞辞辫蝉听蹿谤辞尘听Azovstal arrive in Novoazovsk late on Monday. In one, marked with Z like many听搁耻蝉蝉颈补n military vehicles in Ukraine, men were stacked on stretchers on three levels. One man was wheeled out, his head tightly wrapped in thick bandages.
LVIV EXPLOSIONS, KHARKIV FIGHTING
Moscow calls its nearly three-month-old invasion a “special military operation” to rid Ukraine of fascists, an assertion Kyiv and its Western allies say is a baseless pretext for an unprovoked war.
Russia‘s invading forces have run into apparent setbacks, with听迟谤辞辞辫蝉听forced out of the north and the environs of Kyiv in late March. A听鲍办谤补颈苍颈补苍听counterattack in recent days has driven听搁耻蝉蝉颈补n forces out of the area near Kharkiv, the biggest city in the east.
Ukraine’s general staff said听搁耻蝉蝉颈补n forces were reinforcing and preparing to renew their offensive near Slovyansk and Drobysheve, southeast of the strategic town of Izyum, having suffered losses elsewhere.
Areas around Kyiv and the western city of Lviv, near the Polish border, have continued to come under听搁耻蝉蝉颈补n attack. A series of explosions struck Lviv early on Tuesday, a Reuters witness said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
On Monday, Ukraine’s defense ministry said听迟谤辞辞辫蝉听had advanced all the way to the听搁耻蝉蝉颈补n border, about 40 km north of Kharkiv.
The successes near Kharkiv could let Ukraine attack supply lines for听搁耻蝉蝉颈补‘s main offensive, grinding on further south in the Donbas region, where Moscow has been launching mass assaults for a month.
A village in听搁耻蝉蝉颈补‘s western province of Kursk bordering Ukraine came under听鲍办谤补颈苍颈补苍听fire on Tuesday, regional Governor Roman Starovoit said. Three houses and a school were hit but there were no injuries, he said.
Russian border guards returned fire to quell the shooting聽蹿谤辞尘听large-caliber weapons on the border village of Alekseyevka, Starovoit wrote on messaging app Telegram.
PUTIN CLIMBDOWN OVER NATO
搁耻蝉蝉颈补听has faced massive sanctions for its actions in Ukraine, but EU foreign ministers failed to pressure Hungary to lift its veto of a proposed oil embargo.聽
McDonald’s Corp聽MCD.N聽became one of the biggest global brands to exit听搁耻蝉蝉颈补, laying out plans to sell all its restaurants after operating in the country for more than 30 years.聽
Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared on Monday to climb down聽蹿谤辞尘听threats to retaliate against Sweden and Finland for announcing plans to join the U.S.-led NATO military alliance.
“As far as expansion goes, including new members Finland and Sweden,听搁耻蝉蝉颈补听has no problems with these states – none. And so in this sense there is no immediate threat to听搁耻蝉蝉颈补聽蹿谤辞尘听an expansion to include these countries,” Putin said.聽
The comments appeared to mark a major shift in rhetoric, after years of casting NATO enlargement as a direct threat to听搁耻蝉蝉颈补‘s security, including citing it as a justification for the invasion of Ukraine itself.
Putin said NATO enlargement was being used by the United States in an “aggressive” way to aggravate an already difficult global security situation, and that听搁耻蝉蝉颈补听would respond if the alliance moved weapons or听迟谤辞辞辫蝉听forward.
“The expansion of military infrastructure into this territory would certainly provoke our response,” Putin said.
Finland and Sweden, both non-aligned throughout the Cold War, say they now want the protection offered by NATO’s treaty, under which an attack on any member is an attack on all.
Finalnd and Sweden’s plans, however, hit a snag when NATO member Turkey’s president said he would not approve either bid.聽 – Reuters
