UKRAINE. As the war in Ukraine enters its 51st day, the southern city of Mariupol is more threatened than ever. The strategic port, surrounded for more than 40 days, is about to fall into Russian hands…
The war continues in Ukraine this Friday, April 15, 2022 and it appears that Russian forces will probably seize Mariupol in the coming days, according to several observers, including the French Ministry of Defense. The latter reported yesterday in his update that the “last pockets of Ukrainian resistance” were the place of fighting. Russia should therefore, unless surprised, take possession of this strategic port on the coast of the Sea of Azov.
Despite several weeks of war and a few conquered towns, the Russian army continues at this stage fruitless local attacks in the east. It is also visibly continuing to prepare for a broader offensive in the Donbass. To prepare for this major attack since the start of the war in Ukraine, troop regroupings have been reported in Kharkiv Oblast, a city still under intense bombardment. The latest major news.
- In Mariupol, fighting around the Ukrainian “last pockets of resistance” was still going on yesterday. The city could fall to the Russian army shortly after more than 40 days of siege and resistance. The Russian allegations of a mass surrender of Ukrainian soldiers are nevertheless “probably false”, according to the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW). The Russian army continues to bombard the Odessa sector and remains in a defensive posture in the Kherson sector (see maps).
- In the Donbass, the Russian bombardments continue, in particular in the Donetsk sector. Russian forces continue to regroup for a full-scale offensive. Fighting is taking place in particular on the outskirts of Kharkiv, the country’s second city. Located outside the Donbass, further west, this city is still in the hands of the Ukrainian army, but troops are massing on the outskirts, from where the offensive towards the Donbass could be launched. The towns of Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka, in Donetsk Oblast, are likely to be Russian targets soon according to the UK defense. President Putin’s speech on Tuesday underscored his continued interest in the region.
- In kyiv and the rest of Ukraine, the war is not over. The French Ministry of Defense reports the “resumption of bombardments in western Ukraine, in particular north of kyiv”.
- The word “genocide” returned to Ukrainian news on Thursday. The Ukrainian parliament passed a resolution describing the Russian offensive as “genocide”. A word used by US President Joe Biden this week, but which Emmanuel Macron for his part did not want to use. Referring to “a brutal war” and “established war crimes”, the French president said he wanted to try “as much as possible to continue to be able to stop this war and to rebuild peace” and said he doubted “that the escalation of words will serve the cause”.
Since the start of the conflict, maps have played a key role in understanding the Russian military operation and in monitoring the situation in Ukraine live. Several press agencies, but also specialized institutes and French, Ukrainian and international media, offer maps and graphics updated daily. Some of these cards offer real-time tracking of the latest events, others focus on the major events of the last 24 hours.