Ukraine war: More fighting reported at Mariupol steelworks despite Russian ceasefire pledge

Russia has vowed to pause its military operation at the huge steelworks in Mariupol for three days from Thursday morning to allow civilians to leave.

But early on Thursday morning, the Ukrainian military said Russian forces had “resumed the offensive” to seize the plant.

07:10 AM
Thursday’s key points:
Russian forces have “resumed the offensive to take control” of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine’s military command says in its daily update early on Thursday.

This comes despite a Russian military pledge to open a humanitarian corridor from 0800 to 1800 Moscow time (0700 to 1700 CET) on May 5, 6 and 7 to allow civilians to leave the besieged plant.

Late on Wednesday the commander of the main Ukrainian defending force at the plant said Russian troops had broken into the premises for the second day running and “there are heavy, bloody battles”. Earlier, Mariupol’s mayor said contact with Ukrainian defenders had been lost.

In a late night address, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said women and children are still trapped in Mariupol and a prolonged ceasefire is needed to get them out. No civilians were reported evacuated from the Azovstal plant on Wednesday.

Air raid sirens sounded in cities across Ukraine on Wednesday night and missile fire followed shortly after in the cities of Cherkasy, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia. Ukraine’s foreign minister has accused Russia of wanting to “break us down with their missile terrorism”.

The United Nations says more than 300 civilians from Mariupol and four other towns have been taken to Ukrainian-held Zaporizhzhia in a second successful evacuation operation. Zelenskyy said the 344 evacuated Wednesday are in addition to the more than 150 people who were evacuated earlier this week from the Azovstal bunkers.

AP, AFP