Moscow fires cruise missiles at military targets as kyiv launches evacuation of civilians from Azovstal steelworks
It is often said that in love and in war all is fair. And for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, it was not going to be less. More than two months after the Ukraine invasion began, he has achieved little strategic success on the battlefield. A few days ago it celebrated its control over Kharkiv, the country’s second largest city, and also announced the taking of Mariupol, a port enclave of great symbolic and economic value, whose capture would allow Moscow to conquer the coastal strip along the Sea of Azov and connect the Donbas regions with Crimea, annexed in 2014. There is still a defense of some two thousand soldiers in the Azovstal steelworks that have not made it easy for the Russian troops.
Putin has used almost all his weapons to try to present a major success ahead of May 9, when Moscow commemorates its victory over Germany in World War II. For this, this Friday he took another step. He for the first time used submarines to bomb cities on the Ukrainian coast from his position in the Black Sea.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that it bombed Ukrainian Army facilities after an attack carried out from a submersible with several Caliber-type projectiles. “The crew of a diesel-electric submarine of the Black Sea fleet launched a salvo of cruise missiles against the military infrastructure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the department noted on its Telegram network account, stating that it sought to destroy ” targets on the ground.
The information was accompanied by a video showing, from inside the submarine, how a projectile is shot into the sky. This is the first time that the Kremlin has mentioned the use of a submersible to bomb Ukraine so far in the war, according to the Russian agency Interfax. So far, it has reported using frigates, planes, and missile systems.
Blocking
The little resistance in Mariúpol, which protects a thousand civilians in the tunnels of the Azovstal facilities, advances what could be their last days with hardly any ammunition or food. The Ukrainian Armed Forces denounced the situation yesterday. “The Russian occupiers continue to blockade our units in Mariupol,” which also makes it impossible for the metallurgical company to leave.
For this reason, the Government of Volodímir Zelenski announced an “operation to evacuate civilians from the factory” scheduled for yesterday. The UN requested an “immediate” truce to favor the humanitarian corridor. Moscow stated that civilians can “leave freely and go wherever they want”, but not soldiers, who must lay down their weapons. There are at least 20,000 dead after the fighting in this port enclave, according to estimates by the Ukrainian Presidency.
On the other hand, about 1,200 bodies of civilians killed at the hands of the Russian Army after its withdrawal in the kyiv region have also been found, the authorities said. The chief of the Police of the capital, Andriy Nebitov, explained that on the last day another 26 bodies were discovered and more than 200 people are still missing. He also raised the number of children killed during the invasion to 220.
The climate of tension also continues in the Moldovan separatist region of Transnistria. After receiving a series of attacks in recent days, many families have begun to leave the territory for fear of a further escalation of the conflict, but the Government on Friday prohibited the departure of all men of fighting age. In fact, in addition to raising vigilance, Moldova has pledged to modernize its Army after admitting that it is “not ready” for war.
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