China News Service, April 19 (Reporter Meng Xiangjun) A huge column of black smoke rose, the roar of aircraft came from the air, and the fire points were scattered everywhere... This is one of the latest scenes of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, from the Russian Satellite News Agency UAV The first shots overlooking the area of the Azov steel plant in Mariupol.
According to rough statistics, 2,500 Ukrainian armed men were besieged in this huge steel plant.
The Russian side previously suggested that Ukrainian personnel should lay down their weapons and evacuate before 13:00 Moscow time (18:00 Beijing time) on April 17. This "ultimatum" has expired, and the Ukrainian side has not responded.
Aerial photography of the Azov steel plant in the conflict, a huge black smoke rose from the local area.
Image source: Aerial imagery of the Russian Satellite News Agency.
Here, Uzbek President Zelensky revealed several important information.
One of them is that he believes that the Ukrainian resistance will be prolonged, and he is ready to "fight against Russia for ten years"; the other has a great relationship with the United States.
The "script" behind the Russia-Ukraine conflict may still be very long.
[Ignoring the ultimatum, "Fight to the death"? 】
AFP reported that Moscow is pushing for a major victory in Ukraine's strategic port city of Mariupol to seize control of Donbass and open a land corridor to the Donbass for Crimea.
The Azov Steel Plant became one of the last points of resistance in the area.
The Russian side intercepted 367 radio messages in one day and found that Ukrainian personnel had been "desperate, with almost no food and water."
On the 17th, the director of the Russian National Defense Management Center Miztsev introduced that the Russian side proposed to raise the red flag of the Russian side and the white flag of the Ukrainian side to mark the beginning of the "silent state" of the Ukrainian side's unarmed evacuation.
Whether it's nationalist militants or foreign mercenaries, "all those who lay down their weapons can be guaranteed their lives."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
However, the Kyiv authorities refused to let the resistance elements lay down their weapons and urged the population of Donbas to continue their evacuation westward.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Shmigal insisted that Mariupol "has not fallen" and that Ukraine's "military strength is still there and will fight to the end."
In an interview with CNN, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also said that the Ukrainian army in Mariupol is ready to fight "to the death" with the Russian army.
Ukraine will not give up the east and will be "ready for ten years of resistance".
Zelensky said that "Russia cannot be trusted" and called on the West to speed up its supply of arms to Ukraine.
He emphasized: "Today or tomorrow to equip, not 2 or 3 months from now".
[The battle is imminent, tactical adjustment? 】
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, as of March 25, the Russian army has only attacked the Ukrainian military infrastructure and troops, and has greatly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine in the first stage.
The primary goal of the second phase is to "liberate the Donbass" and bring "war criminals who committed bloody crimes against civilians to justice".
On the night of April 17, Russia used high-precision missiles to destroy an ammunition factory in Ukraine and more than 60 military installations.
Russian long-range missiles have targeted 16 Ukrainian military bases in Bartava, Odessa, and Donbass, and shot down a military cargo plane carrying weapons to Ukraine.
On February 24, local time, after the Russian army entered Ukraine to launch a military operation, a military installation near Umariupol Airport caught fire.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Konashenkov pointed out that since the start of the conflict, the Ukrainian army has lost more than 23,000 people.
Russia also said that at least 1,600 Ukrainian militants had surrendered.
The next phase of Russia's military operations in Ukraine will begin in the next few days, NBC reported, citing forecasts.
British military intelligence said the Russian army would redeploy combat and support equipment from Belarus to Udong, including positions near Kharkiv and the city of Severo Donetsk.
Akira, an expert in the field of American grand strategy and a former professor of defense analysis at the U.S. Naval Graduate School, told the New York Times, "The Russians have shown the ability to learn and adapt." It is foreseeable that Russia will adjust its tactics in the second stage. Expect more use of infantry and bombardment rather than tanks.
Kadyrov, the chief executive of the Russian Chechen Republic, revealed on the 18th that Russia will launch a special operation in Ukraine, "If someone can't escape, quickly run to the Russian Federation army, you will be accepted, you will have food and drink. "
【Negotiation is difficult, what is the crux? 】
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba previously commented that the situation of Mariupol has become a "red line" on the road of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.
The two countries have not had any contact at the diplomatic level recently.
Kuleba believes that after the "Buca incident", it has become more difficult to talk to the Russian side.
The Russian side has previously strongly denied the "Bucha Incident" that killed more than 400 people, but the West's moral siege and suppression offensive has led to large-scale accusations on social media.
British Prime Minister Johnson.
In addition to reciprocal sanctions against the United States and Canadian politicians, on the 16th, Russia sanctioned 13 British officials, including British Prime Minister Johnson.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the move was in response to the media and political campaigns that the United Kingdom coordinated with NATO members to isolate and stifle the Russian economy.
Although the Kremlin said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to meet with Zelensky and has never refused to meet, the delay of the Russian-Ukrainian delegation at the negotiating table has become one of the signs of the elusive situation.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi complained that Western diplomatic efforts to persuade Putin "have so far been fruitless".
Despite the economic sanctions against Russia, he pointed out that sanctions do not necessarily bring the conflict to an end in the short term.
[The long script has already been drawn up? 】
In a recent interview with the BBC, Zelensky revealed that, in fact, Ukraine "started the war earlier".
It is "difficult" to deal with the military power Russia "with the strength of one country", and the Uzbek side especially needs money and weapons.
On December 7, 2021 local time, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a video meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden.
As a result, as early as December 2021 and January 2022, Kyiv "privately agreed on the supply of certain things" with some countries, Zelensky said.
At that time, Russia was holding talks with the United States, NATO, and the European Union one after another on its own security issues, demanding that NATO stop expanding, not to admit Ukraine as a member, and not to deploy strike weapons near the Russian border.
Subsequent negotiations ended in vain, and Russia accused the United States and NATO of refusing to face up to Russia's reasonable needs.
The United States and Europe are formulating a new long-term strategy for Russia. They plan to make every effort to weaken and isolate Russia for a long time from all aspects of defense, finance, trade, international diplomacy, etc., and no longer try to "coexist or cooperate" with it. The Washington Post disclose.
On March 10, local time, the head of the U.S. intelligence agency attended a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on the situation in Ukraine.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Chen Mengtong
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Fernandez also told the Financial Times that the "script" of the U.S. plan to impose sanctions on Russia is very long, and "a few pages of the script have not been read."
Fernandez explained that the goal of the United States is to maximize the pain and consequences that Russia bears, and minimize the consequences it bears itself.
The U.S. considers the current sanctions effective, and while the ruble has regained lost ground, other indicators point to long-term pain for the Russian economy.
Sanctions are not expected to ease unless there is a major change in the situation in Ukraine.
Fried, a former U.S. diplomat in charge of sanctions against Russia during the Obama administration and now a member of the Atlantic Council, said one view is that lifting sanctions would be part of a package of peace deals between Russia and Ukraine; another view is that as long as Putin In power, sanctions "must continue".
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