Zürcher Nachrichten - UN sends rescue convoy as Ukraine denies Russian truce at steel plant

EUR -
AED 4.255428
AFN 80.525817
ALL 98.913238
AMD 444.289759
ANG 2.073476
AOA 1062.412438
ARS 1372.508876
AUD 1.773435
AWG 2.085433
AZN 1.969697
BAM 1.954162
BBD 2.33874
BDT 141.551377
BGN 1.957359
BHD 0.436896
BIF 3407.366411
BMD 1.158574
BND 1.481339
BOB 8.004189
BRL 6.415145
BSD 1.158314
BTN 98.99375
BWP 15.454848
BYN 3.790674
BYR 22708.052246
BZD 2.32672
CAD 1.576043
CDF 3333.217608
CHF 0.938914
CLF 0.028081
CLP 1077.601254
CNY 8.333967
CNH 8.310458
COP 4826.330033
CRC 586.800653
CUC 1.158574
CUP 30.702213
CVE 111.628885
CZK 24.787465
DJF 205.901913
DKK 7.459369
DOP 68.645089
DZD 150.586818
EGP 57.662691
ERN 17.378611
ETB 156.002221
FJD 2.594281
FKP 0.854689
GBP 0.851245
GEL 3.168695
GGP 0.854689
GHS 11.90435
GIP 0.854689
GMD 81.649686
GNF 10027.458515
GTQ 8.90154
GYD 242.333782
HKD 9.094053
HNL 30.236694
HRK 7.537216
HTG 151.9733
HUF 401.59669
IDR 18781.412926
ILS 4.119935
IMP 0.854689
INR 99.27647
IQD 1517.732063
IRR 48775.96979
ISK 144.010847
JEP 0.854689
JMD 185.464577
JOD 0.821468
JPY 166.232156
KES 150.034001
KGS 101.317632
KHR 4654.562913
KMF 496.451858
KPW 1042.695473
KRW 1578.591788
KWD 0.354291
KYD 0.965279
KZT 591.914183
LAK 25013.614361
LBP 103808.238947
LKR 346.461155
LRD 231.234144
LSL 20.508125
LTL 3.420968
LVL 0.700809
LYD 6.302164
MAD 10.576644
MDL 19.842115
MGA 5201.997827
MKD 61.564274
MMK 2432.212525
MNT 4147.222327
MOP 9.365031
MRU 45.908496
MUR 53.086294
MVR 17.84782
MWK 2012.443146
MXN 21.880371
MYR 4.890369
MZN 74.090334
NAD 20.58123
NGN 1785.107998
NIO 42.629734
NOK 11.547114
NPR 158.387269
NZD 1.909116
OMR 0.445468
PAB 1.158314
PEN 4.209678
PGK 4.786074
PHP 64.526829
PKR 327.123684
PLN 4.267648
PYG 9243.253988
QAR 4.218078
RON 5.026128
RSD 117.237498
RUB 92.698128
RWF 1649.230223
SAR 4.346159
SBD 9.667004
SCR 16.92636
SDG 695.722452
SEK 10.936302
SGD 1.481579
SHP 0.910457
SLE 25.517632
SLL 24294.719715
SOS 662.122792
SRD 43.327123
STD 23980.144597
SVC 10.135506
SYP 15063.749542
SZL 20.518277
THB 37.514662
TJS 11.73951
TMT 4.055009
TND 3.388848
TOP 2.713498
TRY 45.649441
TTD 7.858313
TWD 34.221993
TZS 2994.914592
UAH 48.026453
UGX 4153.519276
USD 1.158574
UYU 47.859893
UZS 14679.133566
VES 116.105572
VND 30166.372977
VUV 138.838484
WST 3.182026
XAF 655.399278
XAG 0.031875
XAU 0.000342
XCD 3.131104
XDR 0.820466
XOF 665.021217
XPF 119.331742
YER 281.939113
ZAR 20.752275
ZMK 10428.553157
ZMW 28.465777
ZWL 373.060386
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

UN sends rescue convoy as Ukraine denies Russian truce at steel plant
UN sends rescue convoy as Ukraine denies Russian truce at steel plant / Photo: Dimitar DILKOFF - AFP

UN sends rescue convoy as Ukraine denies Russian truce at steel plant

The United Nations on Thursday said a new convoy was en route to evacuate civilians from the "hell" of a besieged steel plant in Mariupol, even as Ukraine accused Russia of breaking its promise to pause fire at the site.

Text size:

Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have for weeks been holed up at the sprawling factory, trapped under heavy Russian fire, in what has become the last pocket of resistance in the strategically important southern port city.

President Vladimir Putin said Thursday the Russian army was still ready to allow civilians to leave the sprawling complex, while a Kremlin spokesman said humanitarian corridors were "functioning".

But a commander of Ukraine's Azov regiment, Svyatoslav Palamar, denied any evacuations were happening. He said Russian soldiers had broken into the Azovstal site three days ago, triggering "bloody" battles.

The Russian army had earlier announced a daytime ceasefire for three days at Azovstal, that had been due to start on Thursday morning.

"The Russians violated the promise of a truce and did not allow the evacuation of civilians who continue to hide from shelling in the basement of the plant," Palamar said in a video on Telegram.

Speaking to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Putin said "the Russian military is still ready to ensure the safe exit of civilians", according to th Kremlin.

"As for the militants remaining at Azovstal, the Kyiv authorities must give them an order to lay down their arms," Putin said.

- Fresh effort -

The mayor of Mariupol estimates that around 200 civilians are still sheltering in dismal conditions in the complex's Soviet-era underground tunnels. Women and children are among them, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukrainian presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych said the situation on the ground was unclear and incoming information was "contradictory," he told Ukrainian television.

Despite the uncertainty, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said a rescue convoy was on its way.

"A convoy is proceeding to get to Azovstal by tomorrow morning hopefully to receive those civilians remaining in that bleak hell... and take them back to safety," he told a Ukraine's donor conference in Warsaw.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) confirmed to AFP "that a safe passage operation is ongoing" in coordination with the UN.

The two organisations already worked together to evacuate some 100 civilians from the plant at the weekend.

- No 'quick' progress -

Nearly 10 weeks into a war that has killed thousands, flattened cities and uprooted more than 13 million people, the Kremlin conceded Thursday that Kyiv's Western partners had prevented a "quick" end to Russia's military campaign by sharing intelligence and weapons with Ukraine.

The outside help, nevertheless, was "incapable of hindering the achievement" of the goals of Russia's military operation, Peskov insisted.

Peskov was responding to a New York Times article on Wednesday that said intelligence provided by the United States has helped the Ukrainian military target "many" of the approximately dozen Russian generals who have been killed so far in the war.

Since failing to take Kyiv early on in its invasion, which began on February 24, Russia has focused its efforts on the east and south of Ukraine.

Taking full control of the now flattened city of Mariupol would be a major victory for Moscow, allowing it to create a land bridge between separatist, pro-Russian regions in the east and Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.

It would also be hugely symbolic as Russia readies to celebrate May 9, when it marks the Soviet Union's victory over the Nazis in World War II.

Ukrainian officials have said they believe that Russia is planning to hold a military victory parade in Mariupol that day.

Some 344 people were already evacuated from Mariupol and nearby areas earlier this week, and taken to the Ukrainian-controlled Zaporizhzhia, Zelensky said Wednesday.

Zelensky, who has tirelessly campaigned for help from allies, on Thursday launched a global crowdfunding platform to help Kyiv win the war and rebuild the country's infrastructure.

- 'One click' -

"In one click, you can donate funds to protect our defenders, to save our civilians and to rebuild Ukraine," Zelensky said in English in a video on his Twitter page, launching the United24 platform. "Every donation matters for victory."

More than six billion euros ($6.3 billion) were collected at the Ukraine donors' conference in Warsaw, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday.

Ukraine's government in April estimated the cost of rebuilding after the war to be at least $600 billion.

Zelensky also invited German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz to visit Kyiv, patching up a diplomatic spat between the two countries.

Steinmeier, a former German foreign minister who for years championed closer ties to Moscow, had last month said his offer to travel to Ukraine to show solidarity had been snubbed by Kyiv.

Fighting continued meanwhile in other parts of Ukraine, especially in the east.

The governor of the Donbas region Pavlo Kyrylenko said at least 25 civilians were wounded in an overnight Russian strike on the city of Kramatorsk.

Elsewhere, the Ukrainian army said it had retaken control of "several settlements on the border of Mykolaiv and Kherson regions".

- Oil embargo -

As well as sending money and weapons to Ukraine, Kyiv's allies have imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia to punish it for the invasion.

European Council president Charles Michel on Thursday said the EU should confiscate and sell Russian assets it has seized and use the proceeds to rebuild war-scarred Ukraine.

The plan would ban Russian crude gradually over the next six months and refined fuels by the end of this year, but Hungary and Slovakia -- both highly depending on Moscow's oil exports -- would get until the end of 2023.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said EU countries blocking an oil embargo would be "complicit" in Russia's crimes in Ukraine.

burs-mfp/lc

H.Roth--NZN