Berliner Boersenzeitung - Civilians await renewed rescue bid at besieged Ukraine plant

EUR -
AED 4.003289
AFN 72.849005
ALL 98.490894
AMD 421.288212
ANG 1.961905
AOA 993.470176
ARS 1076.214054
AUD 1.649573
AWG 1.9646
AZN 1.846614
BAM 1.959
BBD 2.197991
BDT 130.082501
BGN 1.959
BHD 0.410471
BIF 3162.866828
BMD 1.08993
BND 1.441254
BOB 7.549333
BRL 6.213259
BSD 1.088578
BTN 91.555564
BWP 14.552773
BYN 3.56252
BYR 21362.637795
BZD 2.194285
CAD 1.515232
CDF 3147.173715
CHF 0.94212
CLF 0.037931
CLP 1046.638738
CNY 7.744499
CNH 7.759537
COP 4815.966906
CRC 558.211889
CUC 1.08993
CUP 28.883158
CVE 110.445423
CZK 25.356689
DJF 193.846666
DKK 7.458825
DOP 65.507012
DZD 144.594208
EGP 53.015088
ERN 16.348957
ETB 130.735668
FJD 2.453215
FKP 0.833981
GBP 0.839143
GEL 2.980944
GGP 0.833981
GHS 17.743986
GIP 0.833981
GMD 77.925557
GNF 9388.336694
GTQ 8.41074
GYD 227.641874
HKD 8.473932
HNL 27.440827
HRK 7.508564
HTG 143.254018
HUF 407.809464
IDR 17183.299293
ILS 4.08997
IMP 0.833981
INR 91.632416
IQD 1426.029548
IRR 45877.896757
ISK 148.9175
JEP 0.833981
JMD 172.551879
JOD 0.772866
JPY 165.302133
KES 140.426328
KGS 93.511876
KHR 4424.227374
KMF 494.664277
KPW 980.937204
KRW 1494.392641
KWD 0.334184
KYD 0.907182
KZT 532.369674
LAK 23892.029784
LBP 97482.145873
LKR 318.900953
LRD 209.011439
LSL 19.159399
LTL 3.218281
LVL 0.659288
LYD 5.245569
MAD 10.698277
MDL 19.485832
MGA 5018.197678
MKD 61.71081
MMK 3540.051747
MNT 3703.583868
MOP 8.720145
MRU 43.218601
MUR 49.984066
MVR 16.795796
MWK 1887.583538
MXN 21.902317
MYR 4.76354
MZN 69.657204
NAD 19.159399
NGN 1789.927177
NIO 40.055434
NOK 11.960456
NPR 146.489303
NZD 1.815481
OMR 0.417823
PAB 1.088678
PEN 4.108812
PGK 4.363128
PHP 63.430701
PKR 302.298231
PLN 4.354652
PYG 8600.048955
QAR 3.968383
RON 4.972042
RSD 117.241525
RUB 106.504935
RWF 1488.431487
SAR 4.093127
SBD 9.06815
SCR 14.82652
SDG 655.591668
SEK 11.622747
SGD 1.436441
SHP 0.833981
SLE 24.796236
SLL 22855.294128
SOS 622.116283
SRD 37.727935
STD 22559.360783
SVC 9.524559
SYP 2738.483371
SZL 19.15429
THB 36.828761
TJS 11.571603
TMT 3.814757
TND 3.370807
TOP 2.552724
TRY 37.428649
TTD 7.379054
TWD 34.648123
TZS 2939.201415
UAH 44.991297
UGX 3985.510691
USD 1.08993
UYU 45.083648
UZS 13928.753875
VEF 3948330.494139
VES 46.652495
VND 27553.443033
VUV 129.398771
WST 3.053096
XAF 657.030318
XAG 0.032311
XAU 0.0004
XCD 2.945592
XDR 0.818237
XOF 657.030318
XPF 119.331742
YER 272.864641
ZAR 19.096449
ZMK 9810.670984
ZMW 29.200702
ZWL 350.957176
  • NGG

    0.6700

    64.26

    +1.04%

  • BCC

    1.1800

    134.21

    +0.88%

  • RBGPF

    66.4100

    66.41

    +100%

  • AZN

    0.2700

    71.42

    +0.38%

  • CMSC

    -0.0200

    24.53

    -0.08%

  • SCS

    0.1100

    12.14

    +0.91%

  • CMSD

    0.1500

    24.81

    +0.6%

  • RYCEF

    0.0500

    7.13

    +0.7%

  • RIO

    0.4400

    65.33

    +0.67%

  • GSK

    0.1200

    36.88

    +0.33%

  • RELX

    0.8600

    47.08

    +1.83%

  • JRI

    -0.0300

    13.05

    -0.23%

  • VOD

    0.0800

    9.35

    +0.86%

  • BCE

    -0.1600

    32.1

    -0.5%

  • BTI

    0.0900

    35.07

    +0.26%

  • BP

    -0.1300

    29.23

    -0.44%

Civilians await renewed rescue bid at besieged Ukraine plant
Civilians await renewed rescue bid at besieged Ukraine plant / Photo: Yasuyoshi CHIBA - AFP

Civilians await renewed rescue bid at besieged Ukraine plant

A UN convoy was to resume evacuations Friday of civilians still holed up inside a besieged Mariupol steelworks, the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance against Russian forces in the port city, but reports of renewed firing cast doubt on a promised truce.

Text size:

About 200 civilians, including children, are estimated to still be trapped in the Soviet-era tunnels and bunkers beneath the sprawling Azovstal factory, along with a group of Ukrainian soldiers making their last stand.

Russia had earlier announced a daytime ceasefire at the plant for three days, starting Thursday.

But the Ukrainian army says Russian "assault operations" have continued by ground and by air.

Ukraine's Azov battalion, leading the defence at Azovstal, accused Russian forces of firing during an attempt to evacuate people by car.

"During the ceasefire at the Azovstal plant, a car was hit by Russians who used an anti-tank guided weapon," the battalion said on Telegram, saying the vehicle was "moving towards civilians to evacuate them" at the time.

The strike killed one Ukrainian fighter and wounded six others, it said.

Ten weeks into a war that has killed thousands, destroyed cities and uprooted more than 13 million people, defeating the resistance at Azovstal and taking full control of strategically located Mariupol would be a major win for Moscow.

- May 9 fears -

It would also be a symbolic success as May 9 approaches, the day Russia celebrates the Soviet victory over the Nazis in World War II.

Ukrainian officials believe Moscow is planning a May 9 military parade in Mariupol, possibly with Ukrainian prisoners on display.

The Kremlin Friday however denied plans for Victory Day celebrations in Mariupol, flattened by relentless Russian bombardment.

Moscow-backed separatists in southeastern Ukraine meanwhile said they had taken down traffic signs spelling out the name of Mariupol in Ukrainian and English, and replaced them with Russian ones.

Locals want to see proof that "Russia has come back here forever," said Denis Pushilin, head of Ukraine's breakaway region of Donetsk.

- 'Hell' -

The United Nations had said Thursday a convoy was en route to help civilians escape the "bleak hell" of Azovstal, where food and water are running out and medical care is minimal.

The convoy was expected to arrive sometime Friday, in what would be the third joint evacuation operation with the Red Cross in Mariupol.

Almost 500 civilians were already evacuated from Mariupol and Azovstal in the previous UN-organised rescue missions in recent days, said the head of Ukraine's presidential office, Andriy Yermak.

He said renewed rescue efforts continued and that he would "give the results of this later".

During last weekend's rescues from Mariupol, civilians left in white buses, some taking three days to complete a 230-kilometre (140-mile) journey to Ukraine-controlled Zaporizhzhia, passing through multiple Russian checkpoints.

Azov battalion leader Andriy Biletsky wrote on Telegram Friday that the situation at the plant was critical.

"The shelling does not stop. Every minute of waiting is costing the lives of civilians, soldiers, and the wounded."

Speaking to the Israeli prime minister Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his army was "ready" to provide safe passage to civilians at Azovstal. But he said the last Ukrainian defenders had to surrender.

- Staying 'forever' -

Since failing to take Kyiv early on in the war, which began with Moscow's invasion on February 24, Russia has refocused its offensive on the south and east of Ukraine.

Taking full control of Mariupol would allow Moscow to create a land bridge between separatist, pro-Russian regions in the east and the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.

Elsewhere, a Ukrainian official said Russian forces had almost encircled Severodonetsk, the easternmost city still held by Kyiv, and are trying to storm it.

Kherson in the south remains the only significant city Russia has managed to capture since the war began.

A senior official from the Russian parliament visiting Kherson Friday said Russia would remain in southern Ukraine "forever".

"There should be no doubt about this. There will be no return to the past," Andrey Turchak said.

- Pentagon denial -

The United States is among Ukraine's biggest backers, supplying military equipment and munitions worth billions of dollars as well as intelligence and training.

But the White House has sought to limit knowledge of the full extent of its assistance to avoid provoking Russia into a broader conflict beyond Ukraine.

The Pentagon on Friday denied reports that it helped Ukrainian forces sink the Russian warship Moskva in the Black Sea last month in a stunning setback for Moscow's invasion.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the US had "no prior knowledge" of the plan to strike the ship, which sank April 13, leaving a still-unclear number of Russian sailors dead or missing.

- Oil embargo row -

Ukraine's government has estimated at least $600 billion will be needed to rebuild the country after the war.

Ukraine's Western allies have supported Kyiv with financial and military assistance, and have slapped unprecedented sanctions on Russia.

In what would its toughest move yet, the European Commission has proposed that all 27 EU members gradually ban Russian oil imports.

But Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose country is hugely reliant on Russian oil, said the ban would cross a "red line" for Budapest.

On the diplomatic front, Berlin announced that leaders of the G7 group of industrialised nations would hold video talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky Sunday.

- Farmers on front line -

The war is expected to have a deep impact on food crops in Ukraine, a country known as Europe's breadbasket.

Some farmers are risking their lives to keep up with the spring planting season, finding themselves ploughing around unexploded ordnance.

"Every day since the start of the war we have been finding and destroying unexploded ammunition," Dmytro Polishchuk, one of the deminers, told AFP before heading into a field in the southwestern village of Grygorivka to destroy an unexploded rocket.

burs-mfp/raz

(Y.Yildiz--BBZ)