Mariupol still and always resists the invader. But for how long ? The situation in the city besieged for more than 40 days by the Russian army, and largely destroyed, is dramatic. According to Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak, “tens of thousands” of people died there and “90% of the houses” were destroyed, he wrote on Twitter, adding that “Ukrainian soldiers are surrounded and blocked” . The possible use of chemical weapons is checked.
According to Deputy Mayor Sergei Orlov, Ukrainian defense is concentrated on the center, the south, and the industrial areas of the city. “The defense of Mariupol continues”, added the Ukrainian army on Telegram, assuring Monday that “the connection with the units of the defense forces which heroically hold the city is stable and maintained”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky remains hopeful. In a video address on Monday evening, the head of state assured that his armies could lift the siege of Mariupol if it received heavy weapons from its allies.
- A feared vast Russian offensive in the Donbass
While Moscow has made the total conquest of Donbass (East) its priority objective, kyiv has announced that it expects, in the short term, a major offensive in this region, bordering Russia, part of which has been controlled since 2014. by pro-Russian separatists.
“It is likely that in the future, the enemy will try to take control of Mariupol, seize Popasna (located between Donetsk and Lugansk, editor’s note) and launch an offensive in the direction of Kurakhove (at the west of Donetsk) in order to reach the administrative borders of the Donetsk region”, said this Tuesday morning the staff of the Ukrainian army on Facebook. In Washington, a senior Pentagon official confirmed that Russian forces are strengthening around the Donbass, and in particular near the strategic town of Izium.
Analysts believe that Vladimir Putin, mired in the face of fierce Ukrainian resistance, wants to secure a victory in this region before the May 9 military parade which celebrates the Soviet victory over the Nazis in Red Square in Moscow.
- Lugansk in new Mariupol?
“The battle for the Donetsk and Luhansk regions is a crucial moment in the war,” Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on Telegram. “For Ukraine, this is an opportunity to deprive Russia of the possibility of continuing its aggression by defeating its army”. “For the West, this is also a fundamental battle, because our victory depends on the speed of decision-making on armaments,” he added.
“The battle for Donbass will last several days, and during these days our cities could be completely destroyed”, predicted for his part on Facebook Serguiï Gaïdaï, the Ukrainian governor of the Lugansk region, in Donbass, calling again on the civilians to leave the area. According to him, “the Mariupol scenario can be repeated in the Lugansk region”.
- New EU sanctions against Russia under consideration
On the diplomatic level, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, the first European official to visit Moscow since the invasion of Ukraine, met Vladimir Putin on Monday and said he was “pessimistic”. “We shouldn’t have any illusions. President Putin has massively entered into a logic of war and he is acting accordingly” in the hope of recording “a rapid military success”, he added.
In Luxembourg, the foreign ministers of the European Union began to study Monday a sixth package of sanctions against Moscow, which will however not affect the purchases of oil and gas. Volodymyr Zelensky continues to ask all his European interlocutors “to adopt powerful sanctions”. He calls for a halt to oil and gas purchases and the supply of heavy weapons to resist the announced offensive in the Donbass region.
- Paris expels six Russian spies
France has decided to expel six Russian spies who operated under cover of their embassy in Paris and “whose activities have proven to be contrary to (its) national interests”, the Foreign Ministry said on Monday. For its part, Croatia announced the expulsion of 24 diplomats and staff from the Russian Embassy, following in the footsteps of many countries that have taken similar measures.
- World trade threatened by war
The war in Ukraine could halve the growth of world trade, according to an analysis by the secretariat of the World Trade Organization (WTO), published on Monday. The crisis is expected to bring global GDP growth down to between 3.1 and 3.7 percent this year, while world trade growth is expected to settle at between 2.4 percent and 3 percent. In October, the WTO was expecting an increase of 4.7%.