Ukraine repels some Russian attacks, but fighting continues at steel mill

Ukrainian forces said Thursday they repelled Russian attacks in the east and recaptured some territory, even as Moscow moved to obstruct the flow of Western weapons into Ukraine by bombing train stations and other supply line targets across the country.

Heavy fighting also broke out at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, which represented the last bastion of Ukrainian resistance in the dilapidated southern port city, the Ukrainian military said. A Russian official earlier denied that troops were storming the plant, but the commander of the main Ukrainian unit inside said Russian soldiers had entered the plant’s territory.

“With the support of planes, the enemy resumed the offensive to take control of the plant,” the General Staff in kyiv said, adding that the Russians were “trying to destroy Ukrainian units.”

West of Mariupol, Ukrainian forces made some progress on the border in the southern regions of Kherson and Mykolaiv, where Russian troops were reportedly attempting to launch a counter-offensive and repelled 11 Russian attacks in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the ministry said. army.

Why is Russia invading Ukraine? What Putin’s troops have done, from the ‘Battle of Donbas’ to the siege of Mariupol

Five people have been killed and at least 25 others injured in shelling of several eastern cities over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian officials said.

The Russian military said it used air- and sea-launched missiles to destroy electrical power installations at five train stations in Ukraine on Wednesday. Artillery and aircraft also attacked troop strongholds and fuel and ammunition depots. Videos on social media suggested a bridge was attacked.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba accused Russia of “resorting to the tactics of missile terrorism to sow fear in Ukraine.”

In response to the attacks in his late-night video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “All these crimes will be answered, legally and practically, on the battlefield.”

The flurry of attacks comes as Russia prepares to celebrate Victory Day on May 9, which marks the defeat of Nazi Germany by the Soviet Union. The world is watching whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will use the occasion to declare victory in Ukraine or expand what he calls the “special military operation.”

A declaration of all-out war would allow Putin to introduce martial law and mobilize reservists to make up for significant troop losses.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the speculation as “nonsense.”

Meanwhile, Belarus, which Russia used as a staging ground for its invasion, announced the start of military exercises on Wednesday. A senior Ukrainian official said the country will be ready to act if Belarus joins the fight.

The British Defense Ministry said it does not anticipate the drills currently posing a threat to Ukraine, but that Moscow will likely use them “to pin down Ukrainian forces in the north, preventing them from committing to the battle for Donbas” in the east. industrial heartland that is Russia’s declared war goal.

The attacks on rail infrastructure were aimed at disrupting Western arms deliveries, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu complained that the West is “stuffing Ukraine with weapons.”

A senior US defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the Pentagon’s assessment, said that while the Russians have sought to attack critical infrastructure around the western city of Lviv, specifically targeting railways, “There has been no appreciable impact” on Ukraine’s effort. to replenish their forces. Lviv, near the Polish border, has been a major gateway for NATO-supplied weapons.

The weaponry that entered Ukraine helped its forces thwart Russia’s initial push to seize kyiv and appears certain to play a central role in the escalating battle for Donbas.

Ukraine has urged the West to increase arms supplies ahead of that potentially decisive clash.

In addition to supplying weapons to Ukraine, Europe and the US have sought to punish Moscow with sanctions. The top EU official on Wednesday called on the 27-nation bloc to ban imports of Russian oil, a crucial source of revenue.

“We will ensure that we phase out Russian oil in an orderly manner, in a way that allows us and our partners to secure alternative supply routes and minimize the impact on global markets,” European Commission President Ursula von der said. Leyen, to the European Parliament. in Strasbourg, France.

The proposal needs unanimous approval from EU countries and is likely to be hotly debated. Hungary and Slovakia have already said they will not participate in any oil sanctions. They could be granted a waiver.

The EU is also talking about a possible embargo on Russian natural gas. The bloc has already approved a cut in coal imports.

Russia’s economy relies heavily on oil and natural gas exports.

In Mariupol, Mayor Vadym Boychenko said Russian forces were attacking the already shattered Azovstal plant with heavy artillery, tanks, planes, warships and “heavy bombs that pierce concrete 3 to 5 meters thick.”

“Our brave men are defending this fortress, but it is very difficult,” he said.

Ukrainian fighters said on Tuesday that Russian forces had begun storming the plant. But the Kremlin denied it. “There is no aggression,” Peskov said.

Denys Prokopenko, commander of the Ukrainian Azov regiment defending the plant, said in a video that the raids continued “and there are hard and bloody battles.”

“The situation is extremely difficult, but despite everything we continue to comply with the order to maintain the defense,” he added.

His wife, Kateryna Prokopenko, told The Associated Press: “We don’t want them to die. They won’t give up. They are waiting for the bravest countries to evacuate them.”

Meanwhile, the United Nations announced that more than 300 civilians were evacuated Wednesday from Mariupol and other nearby communities. The evacuees arrived in Zaporizhzhia, some 230 kilometers (140 miles) to the northwest, where they were receiving humanitarian assistance.

Over the weekend, more than 100 people, including women, the elderly and 17 children, were evacuated from the plant during a ceasefire in an operation supervised by the UN and the Red Cross. But soon the attacks on the plant resumed.

The Russian government said on the Telegram messaging app that it would open another evacuation corridor from the plant during certain hours from Thursday to Saturday. But there was no immediate confirmation of those arrangements from other parties, and many previous assurances from the Kremlin have failed, with the Ukrainians blaming the Russians for continued fighting.

It was unclear how many Ukrainian fighters were still inside, but the Russians put the number at around 2,000 in recent weeks, with 500 reportedly wounded. A few hundred civilians also remained there, the Ukrainian side said.

Mariupol, and the plant in particular, have come to symbolize the misery inflicted by war. The Russians have pulverized most of the city in a two-month siege that has left civilians trapped with little food, water, medicine or warmth.

The city’s fall would deprive Ukraine of a vital port, allow Russia to establish a land corridor to the Crimean peninsula, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014, and free up troops to fight in other parts of the Donbas.

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