Today, Wednesday, Russia intensified its military operations in various parts of Ukraine.
At a time when the positions of European countries differed regarding the ban on importing oil from Russia, Washington announced that the arms shipments it was sending to Kiev reached their destination and made a big change in the field.
The Russian forces launched a tank and infantry attack on the Azovstal steel complex, the last enclave where Ukrainian soldiers are holed up in the city of Mariupol (southeast of Ukraine).
Today, Wednesday, Mariupol Mayor Vadim Boychenko said that heavy fighting was taking place in the Azovstal complex, adding that contacts had been cut off with Ukrainian fighters holed up in the complex.
On the other hand, the Kremlin denied that Russian forces stormed the complex, but the Moscow-backed separatist Donetsk forces published pictures of their bombing of Azovstal with tanks and rocket launchers.
Yesterday, Tuesday, the Russian forces announced that their planes and artillery had begun the attack on Azovstal by destroying firing positions, after weeks of intense siege and bombardment.
And the Russian army launches these operations with the help of the forces of the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic", a separatist region loyal to Russia.
Today, Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that Mariupol is under the control of Russian forces, and that the remaining Ukrainian militants in Azovstal are "completely surrounded."
Russian forces are still focusing their attacks in eastern Ukraine around the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the Donbass region, after they stopped their attack on the capital, Kyiv, at the end of last March.
Brigades and raids
The British Ministry of Defense said, in an intelligence update published on Twitter today, Wednesday, that Russia has deployed 22 tactical battalions near the town of Izyum, in an effort to advance along the northern axis of Donbass.
The ministry added that the Russian forces intend - most likely - to advance beyond Izyum and capture Kramatorsk and Severodonetsk.
The magazine "Foreign Policy" quoted a US military official as saying that Russia conducts 50 raids per day, most of them targeting Ukrainian forces in Donbass and Mariupol.
Russia fired missiles at numerous targets in different parts of the country, including Lviv (near the Polish border) and the mountainous Transdniestria (near Hungary), which has so far been spared the war.
The Ukrainian General Staff said - this morning, Wednesday, in a Facebook post - that the Russian army continues its offensive in eastern Ukraine "to fully control the Donetsk and Lugansk regions and maintain a land corridor with the occupied Crimea."
"In order to destroy transport facilities in Ukraine, the enemy fired missiles at infrastructure in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kirovograd, Lviv, Vinnytsia, Kiev, Transdniestria, Odessa and Donetsk regions," the statement said.
American weapons
For his part, a senior Pentagon official said that his country had seen no indications of obstructing or targeting foreign aid directed to Ukraine.
He added that more than 90% of the howitzer guns assigned to Ukraine arrived with their ammunition.
"All the Ukrainians we trained in Germany are back on the battlefield in Ukraine," he said, and they are ready to expand the training of Ukrainian forces, as needed.
For his part, the US Secretary of Defense boasted of his country's support for Kiev, saying, "The whole world can see the difference on the battlefield after the rapid support we provided to Ukraine."
death tolls
Today, Wednesday, the United Nations announced that 3,238 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the start of the Russian offensive more than two months ago.
In a statement, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine confirmed that 3,238 civilians have been killed and 3,397 others injured in Ukraine since the start of the Russian attack on the country on February 24.
"Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effect, including heavy artillery shelling and multiple launch missile systems, and missile and air strikes," it added.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said it believed the actual numbers were much higher, as "information was delayed from some locations where intense hostilities took place".
Israeli mercenaries
On the other hand, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced - today, Wednesday - that "Israeli mercenaries are fighting in Ukraine alongside the Azov Brigade, which Moscow describes as 'Nazi'."
And the Ukrainian Azov Brigade - formed in 2014 by activists from the far-right before its integration into the regular forces - has proven itself the fiercest opponent of the Russian forces that have launched a military attack on Ukraine since February 24.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that mercenaries from Israel are fighting alongside the Azov Brigade in Ukraine.
Zakharova added - in a statement to Radio Sputnik - that Israeli politicians have recently exaggerated the media campaign against her country, and ruled out that Israel was unaware of the presence of its mercenaries fighting alongside the Ukrainian Azov Brigade, stressing that she had seen photos and video recordings documenting their presence.
Oil Divides Europe
On imposing more sanctions on Moscow, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said - on Wednesday - that the United States is in continuous talks with its partners about more sanctions against Russia and may take "additional measures" to pressure Moscow to stop its war in Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden said - on Wednesday - that he will discuss possible "additional" sanctions against Russia this week with the Group of Seven countries.
But the countries of Europe differed among themselves over the proposal of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, to impose a gradual ban on Russian crude oil within 6 months, and refined products until the end of 2022.
Today, Wednesday, Slovakia announced its approval of any European decision that would ban imports of Russian oil, provided it was given a transitional period for its implementation, while Hungary opposed this, and Germany expressed its concerns.
Slovakia has requested a 3-year transition period to activate the European embargo on Russian oil.
The Hungarian government said the European Commission's proposal to gradually ban Russian oil does not provide any guarantees for Hungarian energy security.
Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said - in a video message on Facebook - that the proposal "cannot be supported in its current form, and with all responsibility we cannot vote for it."
"Based on the current proposals, we do not see a plan explaining how to succeed in achieving a transitional period, nor what might give guarantees for Hungarian energy security," the government's media office clarified.
With this move, Hungary thwarted the will of the European Union by banning imports of Russian oil and imposing new sanctions on Moscow.
The European Commission had proposed a gradual ban on Russian oil and oil derivatives in response to the war in Ukraine.
"We will gradually abandon shipments of Russian crude oil within 6 months, and refined products by the end of the year," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen - today, Wednesday - in Strasbourg, explaining that the embargo will be implemented in a way that allows the creation of other supply networks, at a time when oil represents Russian about a quarter of European Union imports of black gold.
According to a number of European officials and diplomats, the project provides for the exemption of Hungary and Slovakia, two landlocked countries that depend entirely on shipments delivered through the Druzhba pipeline, and they will be able to continue purchases from Russia in 2023.
Britain announced a new package of sanctions - today, Wednesday - that includes a ban on providing Russia with services such as accounting and consulting, as well as a freeze of assets and a ban on entry to its territory, targeting especially Russian war correspondents who accompany the Kremlin forces.