Offensive on Sieverodonetsk
Russia tries to storm Mariupol
03/13/2022, 12:49 am
During the night, the Ukrainian port of Mariupol, which was besieged by the Russian army, was again heavily shelled. According to Ukrainian information, Russian units are trying to storm it. A Russian offensive would also be imminent in the city of Sievjerodonetsk with 100,000 inhabitants in the Luhansk region.
According to Ukrainian sources, Russian units are still trying to storm the city of Mariupol. This was announced by the Ukrainian General Staff in a report published on Facebook on Sunday night. Pro-Russian separatists had recently advanced into the eastern outskirts with the support of Russian troops, according to the Ukrainian armed forces. The Russian Ministry of Defense had also reported that several parts of the city had been taken.
Previous attempts to evacuate civilians in the port city besieged by the Russian army had failed again. 50 buses could not leave because of shelling, said Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev from the Ministry of Defense in Moscow, according to the Interfax news agency. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said the column was held at a checkpoint for five hours. There should be another attempt on Sunday.
More than 1,500 civilians are said to have died in the attack on Mariupol so far. Local humanitarian organizations report that the remaining residents still have no access to running water or medicine.
More Russian offensives planned
A Russian offensive is also imminent in the city of Sievjerodonetsk with 100,000 inhabitants in the Luhansk region, the general staff report said. Moscow earlier announced on Saturday that the pro-Russian separatists had reached the city. In the Donetsk region, Russian units were also preparing an offensive on the small town of Wuhledar. According to Ukrainian information, around 200 people were evacuated from this on Saturday.
In the south of the country, Russia is also not giving up attempts to launch an offensive against the industrial city and hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Kryvyi Rih, the report continues. The attempts have so far been unsuccessful. But the Russian troops are looking for weak points in the defense of the Ukrainian security forces and are building up forces for the operation against the city with over 600,000 inhabitants.