Once a day, NU.nl gives you an overview of the situation in Ukraine. This time: The bodies of two hundred people have been found in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. Furthermore, the Russian army is making small progress in eastern Ukraine.
The bodies of 200 people were found in the basement of a destroyed apartment complex, said Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to Mayor Vadym Boychenko. The bodies were found during excavation work and would have been there for a long time.
Russia is said to have asked the locals to remove the deceased from the building, but Ukraine has refused to do so. The Russian troops then left the location as it was. Russia has not yet responded. It is not known who the victims are.
Pro-Russian rebels: Western observers may be present at trial Azovstal fighters
Western and other foreign observers may attend the trial of fighters from the Azovstal steel mills in Mariupol, the leader of pro-Russian rebels in Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, has said. Prosecutors in the Eastern Ukraine region are currently preparing a tribunal, Russia’s news agency reported Interfax†
Pushilin had previously indicated that many of the hundreds of imprisoned Ukrainian defenders of the industrial complex will be tried. Ukraine wants the prisoners to be exchanged for Russian prisoners of war. It is not yet clear when the trial will take place and how many soldiers will face trial.
Ukraine asks West to deliver weapons faster
Three months after the start of the bloody Russian invasion, Ukraine on Tuesday called on the West to deliver weapons faster. It is too early to conclude that Ukraine already has all the weapons it needs, writes Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba Twitter†
Kuleba urges faster military aid from the West given the heavy Russian attacks in the east of his country. Ukraine mainly needs long-range rocket launchers and artillery.
Russia makes small progress in Donets basin
The Russian army has had small local successes on Tuesday in the battle for the eastern Ukraine’s Donets Basin region. The British Ministry of Defense wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that the Russians are intensifying the battle there, but also that the Ukrainians have dug in well and are holding out in most places.
The Russians would try to encircle Severodonetsk and two surrounding towns. If they capture it, the entire Luhansk region will be in Russian hands. Between the two Russian flanks, the Ukrainians still have 25 kilometers in their hands. Ukraine has confirmed the Russian advance.
Hungary’s state of emergency due to war in Ukraine
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has declared a new state of emergency, this time over the war in neighboring Ukraine. He immediately took advantage of an amendment to the constitution. There was already a state of emergency due to corona. Orbán points to the new challenges to protect the Hungarians.
The prime minister can now continue to rule with virtually unlimited power. The parliament had approved the amendment of the constitution by a large majority. In the parliament of 199 seats, 135 are held by Orbán’s party, the conservative Fidesz.
In Hungary, a state of exception has been in effect as a result of the corona pandemic since spring 2020, but it will soon come to an end. Orban’s government now has the option to declare a state of emergency in Hungary without corona.