78 combat units and 60,000 troops deployed
Steelworks resistance forces once more demand surrender
Russia and Ukraine to negotiate… “Wait for answer”
▲ Easter in the shelter
Refugees from eastern Ukraine, where fierce fighting has been fought, decorate eggs at an air-raid shelter in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on the 19th (local time) and prepare for Orthodox Easter on the 24th. The UN offered Russia and Ukraine a humanitarian truce for four days starting from the 21st of Holy Thursday of the Orthodox Church, but Russia rejected it.
Lviv EPA Yonhap News
After pouring firepower into Donbas, eastern Ukraine, Russian forces attacked more than 1,000 targets overnight. A humanitarian channel has been opened for the evacuation of civilians in Mariupol, where the final protest is underway.
According to the US think tank ISW and CNN, the Russian military focused on bombardment on the 19th (local time) in Donetsk, around Donbas, and Popasna, Rubizne, Lisichansk, and Severodonetsk in Luhansk. . According to the BBC, the Russian Ministry of Defense said it had hit 1,053 targets in Ukraine overnight, high-precision missile strikes killed up to 40 Ukrainian soldiers and destroyed seven units of military equipment.
The Russian army is increasing its troops in Donbass. According to the Associated Press, a senior U.S. Department of Defense official said that in the past 24 hours, Russia has deployed two more battalion tactics (BTG) in southeastern Ukraine, bringing the number of combat units to 78. The total force is estimated to be between 55,000 and 62,000. About 10,000 to 20,000 foreign mercenaries, including the Russian mercenary company Wagner Group, also gathered, the AP reported, citing European officials.
The situation in the Black Sea port city of Mariupol was dire. The Russian army sent another notice saying that if the soldiers surrender to the resisting soldiers at the Azoustal Works, they will be treated as prisoners of war according to the Geneva Conventions. Major Serhi Volina, commander of the Ukrainian 36th Marine Brigade inside the steelworks, said in an interview with CNN that the fall was imminent. It is said that 500 wounded soldiers and hundreds of civilians hid inside the steelworks.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Irina Beresik announced on the 20th that through an agreement with Russia, a humanitarian channel for women, children and the elderly has been established in Mariupol. Mariupol Mayor Vadim Wojchenko said that 90 buses would be prepared to evacuate civilians and that at least 6,000 people would be evacuated.
Meanwhile, Russia delivered a negotiation proposal that contained the requirements to Ukraine on the same day. It has been three weeks since the fifth peace negotiations held in Istanbul, Turkey on the 29th of last month. Kremlin spokeswoman Dmitry Peskov said: “The ball went to Ukraine. We are waiting for an answer,” he said.
Reporter Odalan
