Ukraine News – Latest: Russia launches new assault on Donbass

Russia has once again called on Ukrainian forces sheltering at the Azovstal metallurgical plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol to lay down their arms.

Mariupol, which has been surrounded by Russian troops for weeks, has seen the fiercest fighting and most complete destruction since the conflict began.

Ukrainian authorities said on Monday that as many as 1,000 civilians were hiding in underground shelters under the large Azovstal plant, adding that Russia was dropping heavy bombs on the Ukrainian-controlled factory in the besieged city.

Ukrainian fighters at the metallurgical plant have previously rejected offers to surrender.

The Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement on Tuesday calling on Ukrainian forces inside to surrender.

“Anyone who lays down their arms is guaranteed to stay alive,” the Defense Ministry said.

He asked the troops to withdraw from the steel plant between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. Moscow time “without exception, without weapons and without ammunition.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has not tried to contact Russian President Vladimir Putin since the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharov.

“No one has been in contact, neither through the Russian Permanent Mission to the UN, nor directly with the Foreign Ministry,” Zakharova said.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, is in Bulgaria and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has entrusted him “to seek steps to achieve peace in Ukraine”.

Posting on Twitter, Mr. Kuleba said: “Instructed by President @ZelenskyyUa to seek steps to achieve peace in Ukraine, I arrived in Sofia to meet with Bulgarian leaders.

“Bulgaria is our friend and partner within the EU and bilaterally. We also feel the support of the people of Bulgaria at this critical moment.

Russia’s new offensive in eastern Ukraine is proceeding “very cautiously” and will fail because Moscow’s forces lack the strength to break through Ukrainian defenses, an aide to President Volodymyr Zelensky said today.

Oleksiy Arestovych said Russian forces were trying to find “sensitive points” in Ukraine’s defences, but added: “Their offensive will fail, I give them a 99% guarantee, they just don’t have enough strength.”

“The battle for Donbas, which was announced and apparently started yesterday, is ongoing and proceeding very cautiously. The battle will not go Russia’s way,” he said on national television.

Russian forces were trying to break through Ukrainian defenses along almost the entire front line in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday.

After being repulsed by Ukrainian forces from an assault on kyiv, Russia has regrouped to focus on a new offensive in eastern Ukraine.

Russian forces have been accused of using devastating “bunker bombs” to target remaining Ukrainian troops, kyiv officials said.

It comes as Putin’s forces attacked along a wide front in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday as part of a large-scale ground offensive to seize control of the country’s eastern industrial heartland in what Ukrainian officials called a “new phase of the war”.

Intensified assaults began Monday along a more than 300-mile front, focused on the Donbas regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, with Russian forces trying to advance in various sections, including from neighboring Kharkiv.

The UK must not give in to blackmail when it comes to hostages, Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry has said.

It comes after two British citizens, Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin, were captured by the Russian Army while fighting for the Ukraine.

“We should be negotiating with the Russians to try and get them back,” Thornberry told Sky News.

“But I don’t think we can give in to blackmail, I’m afraid.

“If we start doing that, it will only encourage more hostage kidnappings around the world.

“We have to make it clear that we do not negotiate or give in to blackmail when it comes to hostages, and we have always said that we must stick to that.”

Cabinet Minister Grant Shapps has welcomed into his home a Ukrainian refugee family and their dog fleeing the war.

The transportation secretary took to Twitter to share the news over the holiday weekend: “Today we are delighted to welcome a three-generation Ukrainian family, along with their dog Max, to live with us in our home.

“As your country goes through the turmoil of Putin’s war, our country resolutely stands with the people of Ukraine.”

Maryam Zakir-Hussain reports.

Ukraine’s former ambassador to the EU has said that Vladimir Putin aims to “wipe Ukraine off the international map.”

Kostiantyn Yelisieiev told Sky News that Ukraine is “fighting for our existence, our independence” and urged other countries to “act more decisively.”