Clashes continue unabated in Mariupol

Fighting in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol continues unabated. According to its own statements, Russia wants to create a connection to Crimea by conquering it. Rockets are said to have hit an equipment depot near Rivne.

The Ukrainian port of Mariupol on the Sea of ​​Azov is increasingly being reduced to rubble by Russian shelling. According to the city administration, two “extremely powerful bombs” fell just as civilians were about to be evacuated. Russian units are said to be slowly advancing in urban warfare from all sides, but the Ukrainian side is also reporting successes in defense.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a humanitarian convoy was “captured by the occupying forces” near the city. 15 civil protection workers and their drivers would be held captive.

“Without food, under constant fire”

According to Ukrainian figures, there are still 100,000 people in the surrounded city, “without food, without water, without medicine, under constant fire” – at least that’s how Zelenskyj describes it. In the past few weeks, the establishment of an escape corridor for civilians failed several times – the conflicting parties blamed each other for this.

Meanwhile, the Russian Air Force is said to have intensified its bombing of Mariupol. The jets could operate there if there was little danger from anti-aircraft defenses, US analyst Michael Kofman told the Washington Times. Videos of Su-25 fighter jets, which are said to have been created in the region, were distributed on social networks. These aircraft are used for close combat of ground targets.

Russia wants secure land connection

The Russian government is now also saying publicly why the conquest is considered important: It is intended to create a secure land connection to Crimea, which was annexed by Russia. As soon as the important M14 trunk road is controlled, Crimea will again be reliably connected to Donetsk and Luhansk via a transport corridor, President Vladimir Putin’s deputy envoy for the southern federal district, Kirill Stepanov, told the Ria Novosti state agency.

The M14 runs west from Mariupol to Russian-occupied Kherson on the Dnepr and east to Russian Rostov-on-Don. In the long term it can be assumed that a continuous railway connection is also planned.

Mariupol now also has great symbolic significance for both sides: the city stands for the bitter Ukrainian spirit of resistance. Thus, a conquest for Putin could be interpreted as the first strategic success in Ukraine.

Supposedly bridge destroyed

Fighting and shelling are also reported from other parts of the country. In the encircled town of Chernihiv, northeast of Kyiv, a bridge is said to have been bombed and destroyed. This was announced by Governor Vyacheslav Tschaus. The bridge over a tributary of the Dnieper had been used to evacuate civilians from the city and deliver humanitarian aid.

The authorities in Chernihiv said yesterday that the city no longer had water or electricity supplies. You spoke of a humanitarian catastrophe.

Explosions in Kyiv

Explosions and gunfire shook Kyiv again. Heavy artillery fire was heard from the north-west, where Russian troops are attempting to encircle and capture the capital’s suburbs. Smoke rose over the western outskirts.

The Kyiv city administration said buildings in two districts had been damaged by shelling, four people were injured.

“Our troops hold their positions”

The Ukrainian side also reports successes. In new fighting for Kharkiv in the east of the country, an attack was repelled. “Our troops are holding their positions,” regional commander Oleg Sinegubov told the Ukrayinska Pravda newspaper.

Is the Russian army advancing?

According to the Ukrainian general staff, Mykolaiv was defended in the south, as was Chernihiv in the northeast. The advance was stopped near Sloviansk in the Donetsk region near the areas of the pro-Russian separatists. This information cannot be independently verified.

According to the findings of military experts and according to the British Ministry of Defense, there are currently no systematic advances by Russian units. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any combat operations.