The night of the war at a glance
Zelenskyj dampens expectations after successes at Kharkiv – USA top up aid package
05/11/2022, 06:55 am
A difficult fate awaits the last Ukrainian defenders of the Azovstal plant. President Selenskyj sees no hope of freeing those trapped militarily. There is better news from the Kharkiv region. However, despite the successes against the Russian units, Selenskyj warns against too high expectations.
Still civilians at the Azovstal plant
According to the will of the Russian besiegers, the Ukrainian soldiers trapped in the Mariupol steelworks are not allowed to leave the premises. According to Ukrajinska Pravda, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Russian military had rejected any proposal for the unhindered withdrawal of the fighters.
Zelenskyi previously stated that Ukraine currently does not have the heavy weapons needed for a successful push to liberate Mariupol. On Tuesday, the defenders reported heavy shelling by Russian troops. The area had been attacked from the air all night long, said the deputy commander of the Azov regiment, Svyatoslav Palamar, to “Ukrajinska Pravda”. There are many seriously injured. They urgently need to be brought to safety. Contrary to recent reports about the complete evacuation of all civilians from the plant, regional administrator Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Monday evening that there were still 100 people there who were not combatants.
Zelenskyj praises Ukrainian troops
In his daily video speech, Zelenskyy praised the courage and sacrifice of his country’s troops. “I am grateful to all our protectors who are defending themselves and showing truly superhuman strength to drive off the invading army,” he said. And that in the fight against the “once the second strongest army in the world”. Despite further successes on various fronts, Zelenskyj did not want to allow euphoria and “excessive emotions” to arise. “There is no need to create an atmosphere of specific moral pressure when certain victories are expected on a weekly and even daily basis,” he warned.
The Ukrainian President referred to reports of success from his general staff, which reported on land gains in the vicinity of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. The occupiers would be “gradually” expelled from the region. According to the Ukrainian military, several towns were recaptured. “The armed forces of Ukraine are doing everything to liberate our country and our people,” said Zelenskyy. “All our cities will be liberated – Kherson, Melitopol, Berdyansk, Mariupol and all others.”
US House of Representatives passes new aid package
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives in Washington has increased an aid package requested by US President Joe Biden by 7 billion dollars and passed it with a large majority. In the House of Commons, 368 MPs from both Biden’s Democrats and opposition Republicans voted in favor of the bill. The 57 votes against came from the ranks of Republicans. The Senate still has to approve it.
The package is worth nearly $40 billion. Biden had asked Congress for $33 billion. In the package that has now been increased, around half of the total sum goes to defense. Since the beginning of the war at the end of February, the United States has promised or delivered weapons and ammunition worth more than $3.7 billion to Ukraine alone.
Callamard: Putin hates Ukrainians
According to the Secretary General of the human rights organization Amnesty International, the Russian leadership around President Vladimir Putin has “hatred” against all Ukrainians. “There are statements, comments and appearances by Putin and other Russian leaders that show how they ignore and hate the Ukrainian people, in which they talk as if Ukraine does not exist,” Agnes Callamard said on Ukrainian television. “And it is precisely these statements that we will use as part of the evidence when we discuss the issue of genocide.”
The violence used in this war was due to the systems thinking created by the leadership. “Violence becomes the main mode of action, it is tolerated and sometimes even glorified… There is no control and this creates the conditions for violent behavior, there is a regime of impunity…” Callamard was quoted as saying by the Unian agency. There is no evidence that the military leadership demands torture or murder from the soldiers. “But we have evidence that the leadership is not stopping these crimes.”
Shelling of Zaporizhia claims victims
At least one person was killed and eight others injured in new Russian attacks near the south-eastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia. According to the regional administration, mainly residential buildings in Orechovo were hit, Ukrajinska Pravda reported. Because of the intensity of the shelling, the delivery of humanitarian aid to the town was temporarily interrupted. The information could not be independently verified.
That brings the day
- Starting today, Ukrainian soldiers will be trained on the Panzerhaubitze 2000 in Germany. The future crews of the weapon system and technical specialists are to be instructed in training at the Bundeswehr Artillery School in Idar-Oberstein.
- Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach welcomes the Ukrainian national soccer team to a special benefit game in the evening.