Oleksiy Arestovich, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidential office, promised in a televised speech this Saturday (04.23.2022) that the occupying Russian troops were attacking the Azovstal steel plant, the last stronghold of Ukrainian forces in the strategic port city. Mariupol in the south of the country.
The official said the invaders had resumed airstrikes and were trying to attack the compound. “The enemy is trying to completely suppress the resistance of the Mariupol guards in the Azovstal area,” Arrestovich said.
The report comes two days after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced to Russian President Vladimir Putin that regime forces were in control of the entire city except Azovstal. Putin then ordered his fighters not to attack the plant, but rather to impose a siege as a clear attempt to reduce opposition.
Curfew order in Liv
Ukrainian authorities estimate that about 2,000 of their soldiers are inside the plant, and about 1,000 civilians have taken refuge in the facility’s underground tunnels, fleeing Russian indiscriminate attacks on residential areas. Arrestevich promised that Ukrainian forces would continue to oppose and that they would try to counter Russian aggression.
Meanwhile, the regional governor of Lviv (West), Maksym Kozytskyy, announced a curfew order beginning on Orthodox Easter night and regretted that Russia had not accepted a plan for a religious war. Citing intelligence information, the official said the curfew order would last from 11pm on Saturday until 5am on Sunday.
The move, which was agreed with the religious authorities, goes hand in hand with the suspension of religious services. “Unfortunately, the enemy does not know the concept of a religious holiday, they are animals who do not understand what Easter is,” Khozytsky wrote.
Ukraine: War continues and destruction intensifies
The longer the war, the greater the poverty
When this old woman looks out the window of her damaged house in Q, the Ukrainian people are increasingly aware of the dire consequences of the war. According to UN estimates, if a series of invasions occur in the next twelve months, about 90 percent of the population will be living in poverty. The country is likely to lag behind economically in nearly two decades.
Ukraine: War continues and destruction intensifies
Nothing but hunger
In Kharkov, Ukraine’s second largest city, starving people looted a shopping mall in the Saltivka district. The situation is dangerous in the northeastern and eastern cities of Kharkov, Chernivtsi, Sumi and Okhtarka. People continue to be subjected to the Great Rocket Launcher fire and aerial bombardment.
Ukraine: War continues and destruction intensifies
Comfort between ruins
In Kiev, a firefighter tries to comfort a resident outside his home destroyed by a Russian bombing. This is a rule shared by other Ukrainians. According to official Russian reports, the invaders are not only attacking military targets, but reports and pictures of civilian casualties and the destruction of residential buildings are confirmed daily.
Ukraine: War continues and destruction intensifies
Born in the dark
A mother and her unborn child in the basement of the Kharkov maternity ward: anyone giving birth these days in Ukraine would have to do so in makeshift cellars. Many hospitals have already been bombed by the Russian military. Many were particularly shocked by the attack on the maternity and children’s hospital in Mariupol a week ago.
Ukraine: War continues and destruction intensifies
Hall of Despair
In Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine, wounded in a grenade attack lay on the sidewalk of a hospital. The situation in the besieged port city for several days is said to be catastrophic. This also applies to the Northeast, which is besieged by the Russian army. The Ukrainian government has said it is looking for ways to supply food and medicine to the occupied cities.
Ukraine: War continues and destruction intensifies
Finally want to eat something
Locals are receiving humanitarian aid in the town of Volnovaka, which is controlled by pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk region. The eastern part of Ukraine, Lukansk and Donetsk are the main arenas of war. Reports from separatists and the Russian Defense Ministry indicate that new villages have been captured daily.
Ukraine: War continues and destruction intensifies
Peace and sorrow
Relatives mourn the death of fallen Ukrainian soldiers in western Lviv. Numerous civilians were also killed. The death toll from the February 24 invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops is 726, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Among them were 42 children and young people.
Ukraine: War continues and destruction intensifies
Everything is ruined, now what?
This employee seems to be useless in cleaning up the remnants of his shop damaged by the Russian shelling in Kiev. When can you reopen the store? When will everyday life return? The future for the Ukrainians is utterly uncertain for now. (RML)
More Stories
5 things you need to know this April 19
Characteristics that make the Aragua train a unique criminal gang in Latin America
Thousands of people evacuated and tsunami warning