Ukraine braces for attacks, evacuates ‘all women, children and older adults’ from steel mill

May 7, 2022 9:23 AM

By ELENA BECATOROS and JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

Posted: May 7, 2022 9:23 AM

Updated: November 29, 2022 4:06 AM

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces fired cruise missiles at the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa on Saturday and bombarded a steel mill in Mariupol housing Ukrainian civilians and fighters, hoping to complete their conquest of the port city in time for Victory Day celebrations. Ukraine announced that all women, children and elderly had been evacuated from the steel plant, a key Russian war objective that has long been under siege.

In a sign of the unexpectedly effective defense that has sustained the fighting into its 11th week, Ukraine’s military flattened Russian positions on a Black Sea island that was captured in the war’s first days and has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.

Western military analysts said a Ukrainian counteroffensive also was advancing around the nation’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, even as it remained a key target of Russian shelling. The Ukrainian army said it retook control of five villages and part of a sixth near hotly contested Kharkiv.

<p>This satellite image taken by Planet Labs PBC shows damage at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, May 6, 2022. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)</p>

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This satellite image taken by Planet Labs PBC shows damage at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, May 6, 2022. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

As Russia’s Monday holiday commemorating Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II approached, cities across Ukraine prepared for an expected increase in Russian attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged residents numbed by more than 10 weeks of war to heed air raid warnings.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that Zelenskyy and his people “embody the spirit of those who prevailed during the Second World War.” He accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying “to twist history to attempt to justify his unprovoked and brutal war against Ukraine.”

“As war again rages in Europe, we must increase our resolve to resist those who now seek to manipulate historical memory in order to advance their own ambitions,” Blinken said in a statement issued as the United States and United Kingdom marked the Allied victory in Europe 77 years ago.

The most intense battles in recent days have befallen eastern Ukraine, where the two sides are entrenched in a fierce race to capture or reclaim territory. Moscow’s offensive in eastern Ukraine has focused on claiming the industrial Donbas region, where Russia-backed separatists have been fighting since 2014 and occupy some areas.

Moscow’s also has sought to sweep across southern Ukraine to both cut off the country from the sea and to connect its territory to the breakaway Transnistria region of Moldova, long home to Russian troops. But it has struggled to achieve those objectives.

On Saturday, six Russian cruise missiles fired from aircraft hit the region of Odesa, where authorities have a curfew in place until Tuesday morning. Videos posted on social media showed thick black smoke rising over Odesa with sirens wailing in the background.

Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press showed Ukraine targeting Russian-held Snake Island in a bid to impede Russia’s efforts to control the Black Sea. A satellite image taken early Saturday by Planet Labs PBC showed what appeared to be a Serna-class landing craft against the island’s northern beach.

<p>This satellite image taken by Planet Labs PBC shows thick black smoke rising after a suspected Ukrainian drone strike on Russian positions on Snake Island, Ukraine, in the Black Sea Friday, May 6, 2022. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)</p>

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This satellite image taken by Planet Labs PBC shows thick black smoke rising after a suspected Ukrainian drone strike on Russian positions on Snake Island, Ukraine, in the Black Sea Friday, May 6, 2022. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

The image corresponds with a Ukrainian military video showing a drone striking the Russian vessel, engulfing it in flames. Snake Island, located some 35 kilometers (20 miles) off the coast, figured in a memorable incident early in the war when Ukrainian border guards stationed there defied Russian orders to surrender, purportedly using colorful language.

Against that backdrop, Ukrainian fighters made a final stand to prevent a complete takeover of Mariupol. Securing the strategically important Sea of Azov port would give Moscow a land bridge to the Crimea Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine during a 2014 invasion.

New satellite photos analyzed by the AP showed vast devastation at a sprawling seaside steel mill that is the last corner of Ukrainian resistance in the city. Buildings at the Azovstal plant, including one under which hundreds of fighters and civilians are likely hiding, had large, gaping holes in the roof, according to the images shot Friday by Planet Labs PBC.

“The president’s order has been carried out: All women, children and the elderly have been evacuated from Azovstal (steelworks),” Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Saturday, without elaborating. “This part of the Mariupol humanitarian operation has been completed.”

Read the full story and more updates from Ukraine:

Francisco Seco
A child plays with the steering wheel of a car as his family waits to be processed upon their arrival from Mariupol at a reception center for displaced people in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Monday, May 2, 2022. Thousands of Ukrainian continue to leave Russian occupied areas. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
STR
In this photo taken from video, civil evacuees sit in a bus in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Bezimenne, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that an evacuation is underway of civilians at a steel plant in the bombed-out city of Mariupol. Zelenskyy said on social media Sunday that a group of 100 people are on their way from Azovstal steelworks to Ukrainian-controlled territory. (AP Photo)
STR
In this photo taken from video, civil evacuees accompanied by Red Cross personnel walk in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Bezimenne, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that an evacuation is underway of civilians at a steel plant in the bombed-out city of Mariupol. Zelenskyy said on social media Sunday that a group of 100 people are on their way from Azovstal steelworks to Ukrainian-controlled territory. (AP Photo)
STF
A Russian military doctor examines a young patient, as other refugees form Mariupol line up to be checked outside Berdyansk, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022. This photo was taken during a trip organized by the Russian Ministry of Defense. (AP Photo)
Francisco Seco
A child sits in a car as his family waits to be processed upon their arrival from Mariupol at a reception center for displaced people in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Monday, May 2, 2022. Thousands of Ukrainian continue to leave Russian occupied areas. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Francisco Seco
Andrii Fedorov hugs his son Makar as they reunited at a reception center for displaced people in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Monday, May 2, 2022. Makar and his mother Dariia Fedora fled from Mariupol as thousands of Ukrainian continue to leave Russian occupied areas. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Alexei Alexandrov
A local man gestures next to a destroyed apartment building in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Monday, May 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
Alexei Alexandrov
Women walk past a destroyed apartment building in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Monday, May 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
Alexei Alexandrov
Women walk past a destroyed apartment building in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Monday, May 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
Alexei Alexandrov
RPG shells lie in the hall of a destroyed school in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Monday, May 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
Alexei Alexandrov
A woman receives medical care from a volunteer in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Monday, May 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
Alexei Alexandrov
Local civilians line up to get humanitarian aid distributed in the United Humanitarian Center in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Monday, May 2, 2022, with a poster reading 'Help center. United Russia'. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)
Alexei Alexandrov
Women speak next to a destroyed apartment building in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine, Monday, May 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Alexei Alexandrov)