Fighting in Ukraine
Separatists seize suburbs of Mariupol
3/12/2022 3:44 p.m
The pro-Russian separatists continue their advance towards the besieged Ukrainian port of Mariupol. According to the Ukrainian military, some outskirts are said to have already been conquered. Other cities, especially Kyiv, are also under attack.
In Ukraine, pro-Russian separatists have seized parts of the beleaguered port city of Mariupol. The enemy has captured eastern outskirts, the Ukrainian military said. The Russian Ministry of Defense had previously reported that several parts of the city had been taken. Mariupol on the Azov Sea with 400,000 inhabitants has been under siege for days. The humanitarian situation worsens dramatically.
Another attempt was planned for this Saturday to bring civilians from Mariupol to Zaporizhia, 200 kilometers away, via a humanitarian corridor. Over the past few days, Kyiv has repeatedly accused the Russian army of preventing similar evacuation attempts. On Friday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also accused Russia of blocking the delivery of food, water and medicine to Mariupol.
Pressure on capital Kyiv
On the 17th day of the war, the Russian Ministry of Defense spoke of attacks on a “broad front”. “The occupiers shelled hospitals and boarding schools at night with indiscriminate, chaotic fire,” wrote Vitaly Kim, the governor of the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv. Two people were injured. The attackers changed their tactics and hid in villages between civilian buildings. “Now there are no rules, we will crack down on them,” Kim said.
With attacks from several sides, the Russian army is also increasing the pressure on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. According to the mayor, the airport was destroyed during air raids in Vasylkiv, 40 kilometers to the south, and an oil depot hit by rockets was on fire. Suburbs in north-west Kiev have been shaken by heavy airstrikes for days. Meanwhile, Russian tanks are advancing on Kyiv from the north-east at an ever-increasing rate.
AFP reporters reported thick plumes of smoke over Kiev’s northeastern suburbs. According to the presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak, Kyiv is in a “state of siege”. Sirens also warned of air strikes in the major cities of Odessa, Dnipro and Kharkiv in the morning. In the Black Sea port city of Mykolaiv, the Russian army shelled several hospitals, an AFP reporter reported. Among other things, a day clinic for cancer patients and an eye clinic were hit.
Video appeal by Zelenskyj
According to Ukrainian sources, about half of the embattled small town of Izyum in the Kharkiv region on the border with the Donetsk region is already under Russian control. The enemy entrenched themselves in the northern part of the city. That couldn’t be checked. According to Kiev sources, Russian troops tried to launch an offensive around the conquered city of Volnowakha in the Donbass. There was also fierce fighting around the village of Rubishne in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine.
The aid organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned of an “unimaginable tragedy” in view of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. “Sieges are a medieval practice that modern martial law outlaws for good reason,” said MSF expert Stephen Cornish.
Zelenskyj made a video appeal to the mothers of Russian soldiers. “Don’t send your children to war in a foreign country,” he said. “Ukraine never wanted this terrible war.” But his country will defend itself. According to Zelensky, 12,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since the Russian invasion began on February 24. Moscow had spoken of almost 500 soldiers killed last week. The US assumes 2,000 to 4,000 dead on the Russian side.