what we know about the intensification of fighting in the Donbass and the south of the country, of which Russia is aiming for “total control”

The war in Ukraine has entered a new phase. Two months after the start of the Russian invasion, Moscow announced on Friday, April 22, its intention “to establish full control over the Donbass and southern Ukraine” to “to ensure a land corridor to Crimea”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Saturday. “to end the war”.

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Russian troops, which withdrew from the kyiv region and northern Ukraine at the end of March, have already occupied much of the east and south of the country. Franceinfo takes stock of the situation in these areas.

UN calls for ‘immediate’ truce in Mariupol

In Mariupol, a strategic port in the south-east of the country largely controlled by the Russian army, a new attempt to evacuate civilians to the city of Zaporizhia failed on Saturday, said the deputy mayor on his Telegram account. Several humanitarian corridors have already had to be canceled at the last minute in Mariupol, Moscow and kyiv blaming each other for these failures.

The last Ukrainian soldiers in the city are entrenched, like civilians, in the Azovstal factory, one of the largest metallurgical complexes in Europe. The Russian army has said it is ready to observe “at any time” a truce “on all or part” of this site to allow the evacuation of civilians and the surrender of combatants. Kyiv has for his part affirmed Sunday that Russian forces continued to shell the city. Volodymyr Zelensky also warned that Ukraine would abandon negotiations with Moscow if the soldiers entrenched in the factory are killed by the Russian army.

The UN for its part called on Sunday for a truce “immediate” in Mariupol, to allow the evacuation of some 100,000 civilians still trapped in the city. “There needs to be a pause in the fighting now to save lives. The longer we wait, the more lives will be at risk”said Amin Awad, coordinator of the United Nations in Ukraine.

Further west from Mariupol, Russian troops “try to continue their offensive on the city of Houliaïpole”in the region of Zaporizhia, halfway between the city of the same name and Mariupol, reports an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency.

Deadly bombings in Odessa

At least eight people, including a baby, were killed in Russian strikes on the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa on Saturday, according to kyiv. “Seven missiles targeted Odessa”one of which “hit an apartment building” and “two who were shot” by the Ukrainian air defense system, Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The Russian army, for its part, declared that it had targeted from “high precision missiles” a logistics terminal at the military airfield near Odessa housing weapons delivered to Ukrainian forces by the United States and European countries.

A Russian offensive is also underway in the region between Kherson, the only administrative capital captured by the Russians from the first days of the invasion, and Mykolaiv, on the road to Odessa. Lin Russia “trying to improve its tactical positions and consolidate” his control over “the administrative borders of the Kherson region”near the Black Sea, assures the Ukrainian army.

Incessant strikes in the Donbass

In the separatist territories of Donbass, Russian troops “concentrate their efforts in the area between Sloviansk and Kramatorsk”a conurbation located in the Donetsk region, details the Russian presidency.

In the neighboring region of Luhansk, six civilians were killed on Saturday by Russian strikes near the village of Girské, according to the governor of the locality, Serguiï Gaidai. Lrussian troops “keep attacking” the cities of Rubizhne and Severodonetsk. In Roubizhne, the shots are incessant. Ukrainian civilians have taken refuge in the basement of a theater in the city, report the special envoys of France Télévisions.

The Russian army said on Saturday that it had carried out 1,098 strikes with artillery and rockets in the past 24 hours. “They literally bomb everything H24”, wrote on his Telegram channel Serguiï Gaidai, calling on the population to evacuate. The governor of Luhansk also announced two dead and two wounded in Zolote.

Kharkiv remains “partially blocked”

West of the Donbass, Kharkov remains “partially blocked” by the Russian forces, who “strengthen their positions” south of the city, according to the spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. Lhe governor of Kharkiv for his part announced on Saturday the takeover by the Ukrainian forces, “after long fierce battles”, of three villages north of the city. Three people were killed and seven others injured by Russian shelling in this city, according to Oleg Synegoubov.