Today, Friday, the Russian army, as part of its special operation in Ukraine, continues to strike military sites and liberate the Donbass lands, while the West is striving to tighten sanctions once morest Moscow and provide military support to Kiev.
In the latest field developments, the Ukrainian forces launched an attack on the Russian forces in the northeast of the country, as they are trying to push the Russian forces in the vicinity of Kharkiv and Izyum. Ukrainian forces also accused Russia of violating the ceasefire during the evacuations from Azovstal, as the Mariupol Council announced the targeting of a car during the evacuation and the killing of a Ukrainian.
This comes as the Russian Defense Ministry announced the destruction of a large ammunition depot belonging to the Ukrainian government forces in the city of Kramatorsk in the Donbass region, while the Ukrainian News Agency reported that Russian attacks are continuing along the front line in Donetsk region, noting that the situation in Kherson is still difficult “with Russian forces continue to loot.
At the same time, the Ukrainian presidency announced the evacuation of regarding 500 civilians from Mariupol, and the operation is continuing. The office of President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “the second stage of evacuating civilians from the Azovstal factory is now underway,” while CNN reported that an evacuation convoy was sent once more to the besieged Azovstal factory.
Ukraine called on “Doctors Without Borders” to assess the physical and psychological condition of the fighters in Azovstal, and called on them to help evacuate the fighters from the factory, stressing that the basic human rights of the fighters in Azovstal were violated.
The evacuations began under the supervision of the United Nations, at the end of last week, and will continue on Friday, according to Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk, who confirmed by saying, “We are focusing on Azovstal,” adding, “The operation is starting at this moment.
And before that, British Military Intelligence said in a tweet on Twitter that Russian forces in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol continued their ground attack on Azovstal Steel Factory for the second day.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address on Thursday Russian forces are still storming and bombing the Azovstal factory Which dates back to the Soviet era, where civilians and military forces took shelter.
This comes as Russia’s representative to the United Nations accused the West of waiting for the opportunity to launch an economic war on Moscow and put pressure on it, stressing that what Ukraine is witnessing is a proxy war that the West is waging once morest Russia. He also accused parties of turning Ukraine into the spearhead of the battle once morest Russia.
At the same time, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, called for an end to the war in Ukraine, adding in a speech delivered on his behalf by the UN spokesperson, that Russia’s attack on Ukraine violated its unity and the Charter of the United Nations, as he described it, and caused great damage to the whole world.
Guterres had told the Security Council, on Thursday, that a third operation was underway to evacuate civilians from the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol and the besieged Azovstal factory.
The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross have so far helped evacuate regarding 500 civilians from the area in two operations over the past week. Guterres declined to give details of the new operation “to avoid undermining the potential success”.
“It is my hope that continued coordination with Moscow and Kiev will lead to further humanitarian pauses to provide safe passage for civilians away from the combat zones and allow aid to reach those most in need,” Guterres told the council.