Status: 04/20/2022 11:16 a.m
Another ceasefire has been agreed for Mariupol. Civilians should be able to leave the port city via an escape corridor. A Ukrainian naval commander asked for evacuation to a third country.
The governments in Kyiv and Moscow have negotiated an escape corridor for civilians in the embattled port city of Mariupol. “For the time being, we managed to agree on a humanitarian corridor for women, children and the elderly,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told the Telegram news channel. They could get out from 2:00 p.m. local time (1:00 p.m. CEST). After that, a convoy of vehicles should drive via Berdyansk to Zaporizhia, about 200 kilometers away.
Apparently there is an agreement for an escape corridor from Mariupol
Victoria Reith, WDR, daily news 12:00 p.m., April 20, 2022
Ukrainian soldiers are to surrender
On Tuesday, the Russian army command again promised a ceasefire and the free withdrawal of civilians staying at the Azovstal steel plant held by Ukrainian militants. In addition, the Ukrainian soldiers who remained there were asked to surrender, according to a statement by Russian Colonel General Mikhail Misintsev. Russia wants to take complete control of the strategically important port city. Previous ultimatums to the defenders allowed them to expire.
The city and the port are largely considered to have been destroyed. Most recently, according to Russian information, around 2,500 Ukrainian fighters and 400 foreign mercenaries were holed up in the steelworks. According to Ukrainian reports, around 1,000 civilians are said to have sought protection there. Russia has repeatedly called on Ukrainian troops to surrender.
“People who are locked up in a steel factory probably don’t have a chance for a long time,” Jo Angerer, ARD Moscow, currently Kyiv
Tagesschau 12:00 p.m., April 20, 2022
“Appeal to the world”
The commander of the marines surrounded in the steelworks, Serhiy Wolyna, had asked for evacuation by ship to a third country in a video message to the world early in the morning. The soldiers have more than 500 wounded and are with hundreds of civilians, he said. “We appeal to all world leaders to help us.”
Russia has advantages in the air, artillery, ground forces, equipment and tanks, Wolyna says. The Ukrainian side is defending only one object, the Azovstal Steel Works, where, in addition to the military, there are also civilians. “This is our appeal to the world,” said Wolyna. “This could be the last appeal of our lives.”
The steelworks is located directly on the Azov Sea and has its own port.
Zelenskyj: The situation in Mariupol remains extremely serious
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sees the situation in the port city of Mariupol as “as difficult as possible”. The Russian military is blocking all attempts to organize humanitarian corridors and rescue Ukrainian citizens, Zelenskyy said in his nightly video message published on Telegram that night.
City residents who are in the hands of Russian units are being tried to be “deported” or mobilized into Russian troops. Unfortunately, Zelenskyy said, no responses were received to the proposal for an exchange that would allow saving civilians and the city’s defenders. He did not provide any further information about the exchange. The information cannot be independently verified.
According to Zelenskyy, the situation in Mariupol is as serious as it can be
Victoria Reith, WDR, daily news 09:00 a.m., April 20, 2022
Explosions in the southern city of Mykolaiv
Shelling was again reported from the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv. The city’s mayor, Olexander Senkevych, urged city residents to stay away from windows and stay in safe places.
According to the Ukrainian news agency Unian, residents of the city also reported that fire had broken out in places. There is no information about damage or casualties.
Shaded in white: advance of the Russian army. Shaded in green: Russian-backed separatist areas. Crimea: annexed by Russia.
Image: ISW/04/19/2022
Kyiv reports Russian attacks against Sievjerodonetsk
According to the Ukrainian General Staff, there have been unsuccessful Russian attempts to storm the cities of Rubizhne and Sieverodonetsk in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk Oblast. Accordingly, “130 injured enemy soldiers were taken to the local hospital in Nowoaydar,” said the General Staff in its situation report.
In addition, the Ukrainian military command reported Russian attacks near the small town of Izyum in the Kharkiv region and heavy fighting around Marjinka, Popasna, Torske, Selena Dolyna and Kreminna.
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.
Separatists report capture of Kreminna
Groups of the self-proclaimed “Luhansk People’s Republic” had previously announced that they had taken the small town of Kreminna in the Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine. It is completely under the control of the units of the “People’s Republic,” the Luhansk “People’s Militia” said on Telegram last night.
An attached video shows a Russian flag hanging on the front door of the city administration. The reports cannot be verified independently.