Ukraine war: Russian troop hits Azovstal steel plant with 35 airstrikes in 24 hours, reports
The plant was the last stronghold of Ukrainian fighters in the city.
FollowUkraine war has entered its 63rd day on Wednesday; shelling and bombing are still heard in parts of Ukraine. The Russian military has been bombing the steel plant in Mariupol after giving several surrender warnings to Ukraine.Â
Top US officials have urged their allies to assist Ukraine in fighting Russian aggression by sending more weapons. Meanwhile, after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the UN Secretary-General will travel to Kyiv on Thursday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The meetings aim to ensure the safe evacuation of citizens and promote peace talks.
The UN stated that around 5.3 million Ukrainians had fled the country since Russia invaded and warned that three million more could follow by this year.Â
Updates:
1) Mariupol, mayor, stated that the Russian military bombed the Azovstal steel plant with 35 airstrikes in the last 24 hours, as per reports. The plant was the last stronghold of Ukrainian fighters in the city. Nearly 1,000 civilians were taking shelter with around 2,000 Ukrainian defenders inside the plant.Â
2) Local officials stated nearly nine people were killed and several more were injured in Russian attacks on towns and cities in the east and south of Mariupol. On Tuesday, the governor of the Donetsk region of the Donbas, Pavlo Kyrylenko, stated on the Telegram messaging app that Russian forces continue to fire at civilians and destroy critical infrastructure deliberately.
3) On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin, Russian President, met visiting United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the Kremlin and discussed the situation in Ukraine. While talking to reporters, Guterres stated that they had a very frank discussion, and it's evident that there are two different positions on Ukraine's happening. The Secretary-General has suggested the establishment of a Humanitarian Contact Group, including Russia, Ukraine, and the UN, to consider opportunities for the opening of safe corridors with local cessations of hostilities and to guarantee that they are effective. Ahead of his trip to Moscow on Monday, Guterres met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.Â
4) On Tuesday, the US stressed to its allies to move, heaven and earth, to keep Kyiv well-armed. US Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, convened a meeting of officials from around 40 countries at the US airbase in Ramstein, Germany, and stated more assistance was on its way. Austin stated that this gathering reflects the galvanised world, adding that he hoped officials would leave with a common and transparent understanding of Ukraine's near-term security requirements because they will keep moving heaven and earth so that they can meet them.
5) Christine Lambrecht, German Defence Minister, stated on Tuesday that Berlin would send the Gepard anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine, marking a major shift by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who had previously urged a more cautious approach faced with nuclear-armed Russia.
6) Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President, stated that the Russian armies' conduct at Chernobyl indicated no one could feel safe. While talking at the press conference with United Nations atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi, he stated that Russia treated the toxic site like a normal battleground, a territory where they didn't even care about nuclear safety. Adding that no country since 1986 has posed such a large-scale threat to nuclear security in Europe and around the world as Russia since February 24.Â
7) Ukrainian authorities demolished a massive Soviet-era monument in the centre of Kyiv on Tuesday to symbolise friendship between Russia and Ukraine in response to Moscow's invasion, according to the city's mayor. The eight-meter (27-foot) bronze statue depicted a Ukrainian and Russian worker standing on a plinth, holding a Soviet order of friendship aloft. The statue was placed beneath a massive titanium 'People's Friendship Arch,' erected in 1982 to commemorate the Soviet Union's 60th anniversary.
8) In the latest development, Poland and Bulgaria stated Russia is cutting off natural gas supplies to the other two NATO countries from Wednesday, which marks the first action of the war. As per a Reuters report, both the countries had declined Russia's demands that they pay in rubles.
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