Evacuation in Mariupol and Russian offensive in southern Ukraine continue

The 68th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine has begun, with the evacuation of citizens blockaded in the city of Mariupol, especially at the Azovstal steelworks, scheduled to continue, while the Russians continue their attempts to occupy the entire administrative region of Kherson. The municipality of Mariupol, which borders the Sea of Azov, reported on its Telegram channel that two additional sites had been agreed for people to be moved in the evacuation column.

The refugees who left yesterday are expected to arrive in the northern town of Zaporiyia today. Meanwhile, Russia continues its offensive in southern Ukraine, aiming to occupy the entire Kherson region, where residents are being pressured to accept the occupying troops as legitimate, according to Ukraine.

On the diplomatic side, EU energy ministers in Brussels are discussing at an extraordinary council the situation created by the war in Ukraine and in particular the mechanism designed to prevent further Russian gas supply cuts, such as those suffered by Poland and Bulgaria. A new package of sanctions is already being prepared, this time affecting Russian oil.

Zaporiyia awaits the arrival of the convoy that has already left Mariupol, a Ukrainian port on the Russian-occupied Sea of Azov, with the first civilians, mainly women, children and the elderly, who were hiding in the Azovstal steelworks, an evacuation mediated by the United Nations and the Red Cross. The evacuation of the inhabitants of Mariupol and the Azovstal steelworks, where hundreds of civilians remain surrounded and trapped, continues this Monday, according to the city council of this city through its Telegram channel.

Southern Axis Update:#Russian forces continued regrouping and reconnoitering on the Southern Axis and did not make any confirmed advances on May 1.https://t.co/iBzZK2bq34 pic.twitter.com/1JJmPf3Y75

— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) May 1, 2022

According to the consistory, two additional sites have been agreed upon for people to be moved in the evacuation column leaving Mariupol. The commander of the 12th Brigade of the National Guard, Denys Schleha, said that according to his estimates, there are still several hundred civilians in the Azovstal bunkers, including up to 20 children, reports the local Ukrinform agency. In addition, he said there are also about 500 wounded who they hope will be able to get out of the steelworks, and that "our fallen comrades-in-arms, which is also a very large number", can be taken away.

Russian forces are continuing their offensive in southern Ukraine, where they are trying to advance in the direction of the South Bug, the country's second largest river that flows into the Black Sea, with the aim of reaching the administrative border of the Kherson region and occupying it in its entirety. This is stated in the latest report of the Ukrainian Military High Command, which adds that the occupiers are looking for "weaknesses" in the Ukrainian defence in this area, while maintaining their artillery attacks in the area of the city of Nikolaiv.

The latest report from the Ukrainian army's Southern Operational Command, published on its Facebook account and reported by the local Ukrinform news agency, also stresses that the Ukrainian armed forces are preventing the enemy from advancing towards Mikolaiv. In Kherson, it adds, Russian troops are putting pressure on local residents to force them to accept the occupation authorities as legitimate and continue to work to disconnect the region from Ukraine's banking system.

According to analysis of the conflict by the US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russia intends for the rouble to be used in the city of Kherson starting this month as part of a four-month currency transition scheme enacted by the occupation administration. Experts at the Washington-based military and strategic analysis agency cite Russian sources as saying that shops in some occupied areas are beginning to transition to the use of the Russian rouble.

Russia has deployed additional anti-aircraft missile systems in the occupied territories in the Lugansk and Zaporiyia regions, according to the Ukrainian army report, which highlights the 'significant losses' being suffered by the occupiers. Specifically, it notes that in Donetsk and Lugansk oblasts alone, ten attacks by the Russian occupiers were repulsed in the last 24 hours, and two tanks, seventeen artillery systems, thirty-eight units of armoured combat vehicles and ten units of enemy vehicles were destroyed.

Diplomacy and sanctions

The European Union's High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell on Sunday expressed the EU's "continued support" for Ukraine as it works on a sixth package of sanctions against Russia, insisting that evacuations in Mariupol are "urgent". The EU is preparing the sixth package of sanctions against Russia since the invasion of Ukraine began, which is expected to include a ban on Russian oil imports. Germany has already said it "actively" supports the EU imposing such an embargo.

EU energy ministers are discussing the situation created by the war in Ukraine and in particular the mechanism designed to prevent further Russian gas supply cuts, such as those suffered by Poland and Bulgaria, at an extraordinary council meeting in the Belgian capital on Monday.

The veteran Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said in a television interview on an Italian channel that Moscow is not seeking regime change in Ukraine, but that the war unleashed by its invasion is aimed at "guaranteeing the security of the population in the east". "We don't want him (Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky) to surrender, but to order a halt to hostilities. Our goal is not regime change in Ukraine, that is the speciality of the United States," he said on the Rete4 channel, in his first interview with European media since the Russian invasion on 24 February.

While the speaker of the Russian Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, said on Monday that countries that send arms to Ukraine are approaching a "catastrophe" and that their leaders should be brought to justice. "By sending arms to Ukraine they become parties to the conflict," he warned.