“Ukraine was hoping to evacuate more civilians from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol on Saturday as Russian forces launched new bombings across the country in anticipation of Victory Day celebrations in Moscow.” -paragraph “> The Azovstal steel plant is the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the devastated city and its fate has acquired symbolic value in the wider battle against the Russian invasion.
Its Minister of Defense Ukraine says Russian forces have continued to attack the area, despite previous talks on a truce that would allow trapped civilians to leave the compound.
Deputy Prime Minister Irina Verestsuk said rescuers would try to evacuate more civilians on Saturday.
On Monday, Moscow and President Vladimir Putin will celebrate the victory of the Soviets in B & # 8217; World War II over Nazi Germany with a traditional Victory Day parade.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has met with fierce resistance and forced Kiev's Western allies to impose massive economic sanctions on the Russian economy and Putin's inner circle, writes the French News Agency.
The Ukrainian Rescue Service said a rocket hit a technical college in Kostantinovka, east of Donetsk, killing at least two people.
Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kirilen , said there were “massive bombings” along the front line. Attacks were also reported in northern Ukraine near the city of Kharkiv and in the southern city of Mikoleyev, a key Russian target.
Ukrainian forces have launched their own counterattack.
According to the Ministry of Defense, Russian forces were forced to demolish three road bridges near the towns of Tsyrkuny and Ruski Tyshky outside Kharkov, in order to slow down the Ukrainian advance.
According to the British secret services, the Ukrainian forces, equipped with high-tech weapons by the Western allies, managed to destroy at least one of the most advanced tanks of Russia, the T-90M.
