“The situation is difficult, the situation is bad,” the head of state said in Kyiv on Thursday, according to journalists from local media. “There are over 400 wounded in that citadel. That’s just the soldiers.” There are also injured civilians.
Kyiv has already suggested several options to Moscow, including an exchange of “wounded for wounded.” “We have decisive days ahead of us, the decisive battle for our state, for our country, for the Ukrainian Donbass,” stressed Zelenskyy.
Video: ORF correspondent Christian Wehrschütz on the current situation in Ukraine
Satellite images show mass graves
According to the operator Maxar, satellite images show a mass grave near Mariupol. The field has been enlarged in recent weeks and now contains more than 200 new graves, the US company said. A comparison of images from mid-March to mid-April suggests that enlargement began between March 23 and 26. The mass grave is located near an existing cemetery in the village of Manhush, 20 kilometers west of Mariupol.
According to Ukrainian sources, 19 soldiers and civilians were freed in a prisoner exchange with Russia. “We were able to bring back 19 people, including 10 military personnel, including 2 officers, and 9 civilians,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told Telegram on Thursday. She did not provide any information on any Russians who might have been released in return. Initially, there was no confirmation of the exchange from Moscow.
It is the fifth time that the two warring factions have exchanged prisoners since the Russian attack began in late February, Vereshchuk said. According to the deputy head of government on Tuesday, 66 Ukrainians were released the previous time.
No ground gains on the main fronts
According to Ukrainian information, Russian troops have not made any gains on the main fronts in the past 24 hours. Russia also understands that it cannot take the Mariupol steelworks by force, said Oleksiy Arestovych, who is a close adviser to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, on Thursday.
“They cannot take Azovstal, they have understood that, they have enormous losses there.” The Ukrainian defenders continued to hold the steelworks. Arestovych was responding to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order to abandon the seizure of the Azov valley works and instead seal it off completely.
Putin no longer sees any reason to storm the industrial area in Mariupol. The corresponding plans would no longer be implemented, he said on Thursday. However, the system should be blocked in such a way that not even a fly could get through without being discovered. Gaining control of the port city in south-eastern Ukraine is a success.
Peace talks continue
According to Russian sources, peace talks between Russia and Ukraine are continuing. Russia is still awaiting a response to its latest proposals related to the deliberations, Presidential Office spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. One is surprised by the statement by the Ukrainian President Zelenskyj that he had not seen the latest proposals.
Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that he had neither seen nor heard anything about a document that the Russian leadership had sent to Ukraine. He told the “Standard” (online edition) that Ukraine would not accept Moscow as a place of negotiation.
Video: ORF foreign policy expert Peter Fritz explains why Germany is hesitant to deliver arms to Ukraine and whether there are already realistic plans for a gas and oil stop from Russia.
Source: Nachrichten
