Moscow has announced a ceasefire in the area around the Azov steelworks in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol for Monday. The Russian troops would “cease all hostilities, withdraw their units to a safe distance and ensure the withdrawal” of civilians from 1 p.m. (CEST), the Defense Ministry in Moscow said. Ukrainian soldiers and numerous civilians have been holed up in the Ukrainian steelworks for weeks.
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According to information from Kyiv, around 1,000 civilians are said to be staying in the steelworks. Videos showing children and women have also been published in the past few days. The Ukrainian fighters who have entrenched themselves in the plant are demanding that everything be done to ensure people’s safety.
According to Russian information, there are still around 2,500 Ukrainian fighters and foreign mercenaries in the Azovstal steelworks. Russia has asked them to surrender. The Mariupol defenders refused. On Sunday, however, Kyiv offered Moscow negotiations – about an exchange of military personnel.
Attacks on railway infrastructure
According to Kiev, at least five people were killed in Russian attacks on the Ukrainian railway infrastructure. 18 other people were injured in the rocket fire in the Vinnytsia region in the center of the country, the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s office said on Monday in the online networks.
The head of the Ukrainian railways, Oleksandr Kamyshin, had previously announced in the online service Telegram that “Russian troops would continue to systematically destroy the railway infrastructure”. Five train stations in central and western Ukraine were shelled within an hour on Monday morning, he added.
In western Ukraine near Lviv, the explosion of a rocket in a train station caused a fire, the authorities said. There is no information about possible victims.
Vinnytsia is an important railway junction, both within Ukraine and for connections abroad. Most of the international trains crossing the country pass through this region.
Source: Nachrichten
