Live from Ukraine Night attack in Donbas ONLINE Load new news 8:00 The Russian army continues to increase the concentration of its troops on the eastern border of Ukraine. This was confirmed this morning by the British Ministry of Defense in a regular report on current developments. Fighting in Donbas is intensifying, according to the ministry, as Russian forces try to break through Ukraine’s defense lines. 6:55 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Tuesday that Ottawa will send heavy artillery in support of the Ukrainian forces fighting the Russian offensive, thus complying with the request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenský. 6:50 The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has announced that it has been informed that “direct links” between the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the State Nuclear Regulatory Authority of Ukraine (SNRIU) have been resumed on Tuesday evening. 6:45 AM The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Tuesday that it will offer a ceasefire in the besieged city of Mariupol on Wednesday, which will allow the remaining Ukrainian soldiers located in the local Azovstal ironworks complex to surrender and lay down their weapons. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Wednesday’s armistice should start on Wednesday at 2 pm Moscow time (1 pm CET) and provide Ukrainian fighters with the opportunity to surrender and leave without injury. 6:30 The Ukrainian port city of Mariupol could fall into the hands of Russian troops in a matter of days, and could turn out worse than Bucha, where Russian soldiers have committed a civilian massacre that the Kremlin denies. An unnamed European official said this on Tuesday. Photo gallery (3) Footage from the ruined Mariupol.
Source: SITA / AP Photo / Alexei Alexandrov 6:15 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised on Tuesday that Berlin would finance direct arms deliveries to Ukraine from the German arms industry. 6:00 Fighter planes have been delivered to Ukraine from its allies, as well as parts to repair damaged planes in order to strengthen the country’s air force against Russia’s military aggression. The US Department of Defense announced this on Tuesday, but refused to specify the number of aircraft, their type, or the country of origin. Zelensky called for an increase in arms supplies to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky again called for an increase in arms supplies to Ukraine on Tuesday evening in a video published on the Telegram platform. “If we had access to all the weapons we need, which our partners have and which are comparable to the weapons of the Russian Federation, we would have ended this war,” Zelenskyj said. It is a “moral obligation” for countries that have such weapons to provide them to Kiev, he stressed. He added that this will help save thousands of Ukrainians’ lives. “Any delay in aid to Ukraine gives the occupiers the opportunity to kill more Ukrainians,” he warned. Zelensky also said that most of Russia’s fighting forces are deployed in Ukraine, and although Moscow claims to attack only military targets, Russian troops say he continues to kill civilians in residential areas. “Now, practically the whole part of the Russian army that is ready to fight is concentrated on the territory of our state and in the border areas of Russia,” he said. “In this war, the Russian army will forever enter world history as the most barbaric and cruelest army in the world,” Zelenský was quoted as saying by the AP agency. “The targeted killing of civilians and the destruction of residential buildings with all kinds of weapons, including those prohibited by international conventions, is a hallmark of the Russian military,” he criticized. “It is such a mean that the Russian Federation will be a source of absolute evil for generations,” he added. The President noted that the situation in the besieged city of Mariupol has not changed and remains extremely difficult. According to him, the Russian army is blocking all attempts to open humanitarian corridors and “save our people”. “The fate of the tens of thousands of Mariupol residents who were previously relocated to Russian-controlled territory is unknown,” he added. According to Zelenský, the Kremlin did not respond to the proposal to replace the pro-Kremlin politician Viktor Medvedčuk, who was detained after escaping from house arrest for Mariupol defenders. Zelensky also said that “the intensity of shelling by Russian troops in the direction of Kharkov, Donbas and the Dnipropetrovsk region has increased significantly”. Mariupol naval forces warn that they may face last day, if not hours, Serhiy Volyna, commander of the 36th Naval Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which continues to fight Russian forces in the besieged city of Mariupol, said in a statement on Facebook early Wednesday morning that his units “may face the last day, if not hours”. “The enemy is outnumbered by ten,” Volyna said in a video posted on social media. “We appeal to all the world’s leaders and ask them to help us. We ask them to take advantage of the withdrawal process and take us to the territory of a third-party state,” he said. Volyn claims that the Russians have “an advantage in the air, in artillery, in their forces on land, in equipment and in tanks.” “We are defending only one object – the Azovstal ironworks, where, in addition to military personnel, there are also civilians who have fallen victim to this war,” he said. Russia gave a new ultimatum to Ukrainian forces in Mariupol on Tuesday and called on them to lay down their arms “immediately.” The Ministry of Defense in Moscow called the situation of Ukrainian forces, which are hiding in the Azovstal ironworks complex, “catastrophic”. The AFP points out that the information of neither side of the conflict cannot be independently verified due to the scale of the fighting in Mariupol and the broken communication links. The ironworks complex in the besieged strategically important port city of Mariupol currently serves as a fortress for Ukrainian defenders. Russian forces continued to attack the area on Tuesday. Some Ukrainian officials said a nearby hospital was also affected.