Ukraine says clashes continue in Mariupol, explosions rock kyiv


  • Ukraine says street fighting continues in Mariupol
  • Moscow says it seizes steel plant in Mariupol
  • The largest ship sunk in the war in 40 years
  • Industrial site attacked in kyiv in apparent retaliation

kyiv, April 15 (Reuters) – Ukraine said on Friday it was trying to break out of Russia’s siege of Mariupol as fighting raged around the city’s massive steelworks and port, and the capital kyiv came under fire. rocked by some of the most powerful explosions in two weeks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the military situation in the south and east of the country was “still very difficult”, while praising the work of his armed forces.

“The successes of our army on the battlefield are really significant, historically significant. But they are still not enough to cleanse our land of the squatters. We will beat them some more,” Zelenskiy said in a late-night video address, calling back. for allies to send in heavier weapons and for an international embargo on Russian oil.

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Russia said it struck what it described as a factory on the outskirts of kyiv that makes and repairs anti-ship missiles, in apparent retaliation for Thursday’s sinking of the Moskva, the flagship of Moscow’s fleet in the Black Sea.

Ukraine said that one of its missiles had caused the sinking of the Moskva, a powerful symbol of its resistance to a better armed enemy. Moscow said the ship sank while it was being towed in stormy seas after a fire caused by an ammunition explosion.

The United States believes the Moskva was hit by two Ukrainian missiles and that there were Russian casualties, although the figures are unclear, a senior US official said.

Russia has said that more than 500 sailors aboard the Moskva were evacuated after the explosion. Neither that assertion nor the United States’ assessment could be independently verified.

MARIUPOL REDUCED TO RUBBLE

Mariupol, on the Sea of ​​Azov in southeastern Ukraine, has seen the worst fighting of the seven-week war. Home to 400,000 people before the Russian invasion, the city has been reduced to rubble. Thousands of civilians have been killed and tens of thousands are still trapped in the city. read more

“The situation in Mariupol is difficult and tough. The fighting is going on right now. The Russian army is constantly calling in additional units to storm the city,” Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said in a televised briefing, though he said the Russians have not fully captured that.

Motuzyanyk said Russia used long-range bombers to attack Mariupol for the first time since its February 24 invasion.

In his speech, Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s allies have the power to make the war much shorter by sending the weapons his government needs. “I always tell all of our partners … that the amount of support for Ukraine directly affects the restoration of peace. It literally defines how many more Ukrainians the occupiers will manage to kill,” he said.

Moscow has said its main war goal is to capture Donbas, an eastern region already partly in the hands of Russian-backed separatists, after its invasion force was driven from the outskirts of kyiv this month.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said 2,864 people were evacuated from conflict zones on Friday, including 363 people from Mariupol who used their own means of transport.

Zelenskiy recently made a direct call on US President Joe Biden for the United States to designate Russia a “state sponsor of terrorism,” the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing people familiar with their conversation.

The list currently includes four countries: North Korea, Cuba, Iran and Syria. read more

A White House spokesman declined to respond specifically to the report, adding: “We will continue to consider all options to increase pressure on Putin.”

RUSSIA THREATENS WITH STRIKE IN kyiv

If Moscow captures Mariupol, it would be the only major city to fall to the Russians so far.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it had captured the city’s Illich steelworks. The report could not be confirmed.

Ukrainian defenders are mainly believed to be holding out at Azovstal, another huge steel mill. read more

Both plants are owned by Metinvest, Ukraine’s richest businessman empire and the backbone of Ukraine’s industrial east, which told Reuters on Friday it would never allow its companies to operate under Russian occupation. read more

The Moskva was by far the largest Russian ship in the Black Sea fleet, equipped with guided missiles to shoot down planes and attack the coast. She had radar to provide air defense cover for the fleet. read more

Moscow has used its naval power to blockade Ukrainian ports and threaten a possible amphibious landing along the coast. Without her flagship, the largest warship sunk during a conflict since Argentina’s General Belgrano in the 1982 Falklands War, her ability to threaten Ukraine from the sea could be affected.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces would intensify attacks in kyiv.

“The number and scale of missile strikes against targets in kyiv will increase in response to any terrorist attack or act of sabotage on Russian territory by the nationalist regime in kyiv,” the ministry said. read more

Kirill Kyrylo, 38, a worker at a car repair shop in the Ukrainian capital, said he had seen three hits in an industrial building, starting a fire that was put out by firefighters.

“The building was on fire and I had to hide behind my car,” he said, pointing to broken glass from the repair shop and pieces of metal that had been blown from the burning building.

Russia initially described its goals in Ukraine as disarming its neighbor and defeating the nationalists there.

kyiv and its Western allies say these are false justifications for an unprovoked war of aggression that has driven a quarter of Ukraine’s 44 million people from their homes and killed thousands.

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Reporting by Pavel Polityuk and Elizabeth Piper; Additional reporting from Reuters bureaus; Written by Peter Graff, Ingrid Melander, and Patricia Zengerle; Edited by Frances Kerry, Gareth Jones, Lisa Shumaker, and Daniel Wallis

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.



Reference-www.reuters.com

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