The war in Ukraine deciphered in four infographics

• Russian forces continue their advance in southern and eastern Ukraine.

  Severodonetsk, one of the important cities of Donbass still under Ukrainian control, is “virtually surrounded”.

• In Mariupol, kyiv accuses Moscow of not respecting the ceasefire which must run until Saturday and of pounding the immense Azovstal steelworks where the last Ukrainian forces remain.

• After a historic high in March, world food prices fell slightly in April.

  Ukraine is one of the breadbaskets of the world and the war threatens to lead to famines on the other side of the globe.

The Russian army continues its offensive on Ukraine.

Faced with Ukrainian resistance, Moscow has decided to concentrate its forces in the east and south of the country where fighting is raging.

takes stock of the war in Ukraine in four infographics.

The advance of Russian forces on the 72nd day of war

Russian forces are advancing in southern and eastern Ukraine.

Severodonetsk, one of the major Donbass cities still under Ukrainian control, is "virtually surrounded" by troops from Moscow and pro-Russian separatists trying to take full control, the city's mayor said. 

Across the front on the 72nd day of the war, Russian efforts to snatch prestige successes ahead of May 9 celebrations marking the Red Army's victory over Nazi Germany appear to be stalling, experts say.

"Russian forces have continued their ineffective offensive operations south of Kharkiv, in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions without registering significant territorial gains in the past 24 hours," the ISW (Institute for the Study of the war).

Focus on Mariupol

Further south, nearly 500 civilians in total have been evacuated in recent days from the besieged city of Mariupol (southeast), Ukrainian authorities said.

Evacuations continued on Friday. 

Information on the situation in the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, where civilians and combatants live entrenched in huge underground galleries, remains contradictory.

kyiv claims that Russian forces are continuing their offensive while Moscow claims to respect the ceasefire declared from Thursday to Saturday.

“A car was targeted by the Russians with an anti-tank guided missile.

This car was heading towards civilians to evacuate them from the factory, ”assured the Azov regiment, which defends the steelworks.

"One fighter was killed and six injured," he added.

The enemy continues to violate all agreements and fail to respect security guarantees for the evacuation of civilians”.

Slight drop in food prices

The yield of the next wheat harvest in Ukraine is expected to fall by at least 35% compared to 2021 due to the Russian invasion, according to satellite images analyzed by geolocation company Kayrros in a note published on Friday.

The conflict has severely disrupted the planting season, which is underway, and forced farmers to work under bombs, with fuel hard to find.

However, after a historic high in March, world food prices fell slightly in April as can be seen in these charts – this is particularly the case for vegetable oils.

Prices still remain at a high level because of the war, said the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

A "modest decline in the prices of vegetable oils and cereals" caused the FAO food price index, which tracks the monthly change in international prices of a basket of basic food products, to decline by 0.8% compared to the March.

Update on the Russian fleet

The Russians reign supreme over the Black Sea – as well as the Sea of ​​Azov since the capture of Mariupol – while the Ukrainian fleet was annihilated at the start of the war.

The Kremlin would like to take Odessa, in order to enclave Ukraine and make the connection with its elements in Transnistria separatist from Moldavia.

However, kyiv has managed to cool the ardor of Russian cruisers since the destruction of the flagship Moskva.

Our file on the war in Ukraine

A senior US official, on condition of anonymity, denied that the United States had provided information to identify the building that sank on April 14.

The American channel NBC had claimed that information communicated by the United States had helped Ukraine to sink the Russian cruiser.

If they are not on the infographic, Moscow would also use dolphins for military purposes.

But that's a whole other story that

looked into in this article: Russia would use dolphins to defend its ports... but why? 

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