On Tuesday, civilians were fleeing eastern Ukraine ahead of a planned Russian onslaught, while Kyiv said it was investigating accusations that Russian forces used chemical weapons in the beleaguered port city of Mariupol.
With Ukrainian marines holed up in the Azovstal industrial district, the struggle for Mariupol was reaching a decisive stage.
If the Russians take Azovstal, they will have complete control of Mariupol, which serves as a link between Russian-controlled territory to the west and east. Weeks of Russian shelling have already wreaked havoc on the city, killing tens of thousands of residents.
Hanna Malyar, Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister, said the government was investigating unconfirmed reports that Russia used chemical weapons while besieging Mariupol.
In televised remarks, Malyar remarked, “There is a hypothesis that these could be phosphorous weapons.”
As Russia prepared soldiers in the eastern Donbas region for a new assault on Mariupol, President Volodymyr Zelensky declared on Monday night that the country could use chemical weapons. He didn’t specify if they were actually used.
The United States and the United Kingdom both stated that they were attempting to verify the reports. In response to Russia’s use of chemical weapons, British Junior Defence Minister James Heappey declared in London that “all options were on the table.”
“There is a possibility that these could be phosphorous weapons,” Malyar said on television.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday night that Russia could use chemical weapons as soldiers in the eastern Donbas region prepared for a new assault on Mariupol. He didn’t say whether or not they were used.
Both the United States and the United Kingdom have announced that they are investigating the reports. In London, British Junior Defence Minister James Heappey announced that “all options were on the table” in response to Russia’s deployment of chemical weapons.
However, if this is true, it would be a terrible new step in a war that has already left a trail of death and destruction since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s troops crossed the border on Feb. 24.
Approximately a fifth of Ukraine’s 44 million people have been displaced from their homes, cities have been reduced to ruins, and thousands of people, many of them civilians, have been murdered or injured.
EFFORTS ARE BEING REDOUBLED
Putin describes the operation as a “special military operation” aimed at demilitarizing and “denazifying” Ukraine, but it has sparked outrage and criticism in the West, which has levied a slew of sanctions aimed at squeezing Russia’s economy.
The Russians have temporarily abandoned their attempt to conquer Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital after their troops became bogged down in the face of Ukrainian resistance. They are, however, redoubling their efforts in the east, and Ukrainian forces are preparing for a new onslaught.
Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of the Luhansk area, urged civilians to escape through the five humanitarian corridors agreed upon for the east.
He said on social media, “It’s considerably more terrifying to stay and burn in your sleep from a Russian shell.” “Evacuate; the situation is deteriorating by the day; take your essential belongings and proceed to the pickup site.”
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said nine humanitarian routes had been negotiated for Tuesday, including one for private cars from Mariupol.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in a morning briefing on the conflict that, in addition to attempting to take control of Mariupol, Russian forces were also planning to take Popasna, a town about two hours west of Luhansk, and launch an offensive in the direction of Kurakhove, in the Donetsk region.
Both Luhansk and Donetsk were attacked, according to the Ukrainian military.
Overnight, President Zelensky pleaded with the West for more armaments to assist relieve the siege of Mariupol and fend off a Russian invasion in the east.
“Unfortunately, we are not getting as much as we need to end this war sooner… especially to lift the Mariupol embargo,” he stated.
ALLEGATIONS OF WAR CRIME
The withdrawal of Russian forces from the outskirts of Kyiv sparked charges of war crimes, including executions and civilian rape. Moscow disputes the accusations as a provocation by Ukraine and the West and has accused Ukrainian forces of sexual abuse.
While all charges must be properly examined, senior United Nations official Sima Bahous warned the United Nations Security Council on Monday that “the savagery demonstrated against Ukrainian citizens has aroused all red lights.”
“We’re hearing more and more about rape and sexual violence,” she said.
“Violence and rape is now being used as a weapon of war by Russian invaders in Ukraine,” Kateryna Cherepakha, president of the rights group La Strada-Ukraine, told the council via video.
The charges were refuted by Russia’s deputy UN ambassador, who accused Ukraine and its allies of having “a clear intention to portray Russian servicemen as sadists and rapists.”
Despite what it called Moscow’s “extraordinary measures to preserve civilians,” Russia’s defense ministry said the US was directing Ukraine’s government to plant bogus proof of Russian assault against civilians.
According to Russian and Belarusian news outlets, Putin will meet with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday to discuss Ukraine and Western sanctions. Belarus serves as a major staging area for Russian troops.
On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Moscow’s military action would surely achieve its “noble” goals.
Putin was cited by Russian news media as stating at an awards ceremony at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East that Moscow had no choice but to act to protect Russia and that a clash with Ukraine’s anti-Russian forces was unavoidable.
