A new convoy of the United Nations arrives in Mariupol to evacuate the last civilians holed up in the Azovstal complex without any guarantee of a cessation of hostilities, and while London and Berlin announced their intention to provide Ukraine with quality weapons, the Ukrainian president confirmed that health facilities were severely damaged.

The Russian General Staff had announced the opening of safe corridors for the exit of civilians from the Azovstal steel complex - the last enclave in which Ukrainian soldiers are holed up in the city of Mariupol (southeastern Ukraine) - for a period of 3 days, starting from eight in the morning until six in the evening Moscow time (days). Thursday, Friday and Saturday).

Despite the ambiguity regarding the cessation of hostilities, the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, announced yesterday that this new convoy is on its way to the stricken city, which became one of the symbols of the Russian invasion that began on February 24.

"There is a convoy on its way to Azovstal (arriving Friday morning) hoping to get the remaining civilians out of this grim hell they've been living in for weeks and months, and bring them back to safety," Griffiths said in Warsaw.

This comes at a time when the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed that it is participating in this process.

Evacuations are still going on from the Azovstal complex (European)

information and contradiction

It is noteworthy that the information is contradictory about the situation in the steel plants in Mariupol, where civilians and fighters took refuge in huge cellars.

And Andrey Yermak, Director of the Ukrainian President's Office, announced the evacuation of about 500 civilians so far from Mariupol, stressing that the process is continuing, while Moscow and Kiev exchange accusations over the escalation in the Azovstal complex in the city.

While Moscow insisted that its forces and Donetsk forces would cease fire within 3 days, to remove civilians from the compound, Kyiv accused the Russian forces of targeting the compound in an attempt to storm it.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday evening in his daily video message that Russian forces continued to bombard the steel plant despite Russia's promise of a three-day armistice that began Thursday morning.

In a message on his Facebook page, he said that the Russian bombing continues, "while civilians, women and children must be evacuated."

"Imagine this hell," Zelensky added. "There are children. More than two months of continuous bombardment and death is constantly approaching."

Destruction in the stricken city of Mariupol (Reuters)

Russian readiness

For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed Thursday evening that "the Russian army is always ready to ensure the evacuation of civilians" from Azovstal, where about 200 of them are still trapped with Ukrainian fighters in this compound.

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Russian army is respecting the ceasefire around the plant, stressing the operation of humanitarian corridors around Azovstal.

But the Ukrainian fighters at the site denied this.

Svyatoslav Balamar, deputy commander of the Azov battalion that defends these facilities, confirmed in a video recording that "bloody battles" are taking place at the site itself, and that the Russians "did not fulfill their promise" of a truce.

The capture of all of Mariupol will be a great victory for Russia as the 9th of May approaches, the day Moscow holds a major military parade in memory of the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

The Ukrainians assert that Russian forces are also preparing to stage a parade that day in Mariupol, a port city that had a pre-war population of about 500,000 and was destroyed during two months of Russian siege and bombardment.

Since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has only been able to declare its control over one important city, Kherson, in the south.


Support and goals

Dmitry Peskov admitted Thursday that Western support had slowed Russia's "special military operation".

"The United States, Britain and the entire NATO alliance constantly share intelligence data with the Ukrainian armed forces," he said.

In another field development, Al-Jazeera correspondent reported hearing violent explosions in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, and sirens sounding throughout the cities of the Donbass region.

Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that the Mykolaiv region was subjected to violent Russian bombardment with rocket launchers;

City authorities have called on residents to stay in shelters.

In his daily video speech late Thursday, Zelensky said that the Russian army had used 2014 missiles against various targets in the war on Ukraine.

In addition, 2,682 airstrikes have already been recorded since the beginning of the Russian army's invasion of Ukraine in late February.

"All these operations mean death to our people and destruction to our infrastructure," Zelensky stressed, explaining that only Ukrainian health facilities were significantly damaged.

"So far, Russian forces have destroyed or damaged nearly 400 health facilities," he said.


Arms and doubts

In a related context to the ongoing war, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht announced that Germany had reached an agreement to supply Ukraine with 7 self-propelled howitzers.

The German minister added that the training of Ukrainian soldiers to use these guns will begin in Germany next week.

Germany will provide training on the Panzerhausen 2000 artillery system, which features a tracked vehicle-mounted cannon that resembles a tank.

Using standard ammunition, the howitzer can fire shells up to 30 kilometers;

With enhanced range ammunition, it can reach a distance of up to 40 kilometers, according to German military data.

Lambrecht announced the new arms pledge while inspecting her country's troops in Slovakia, which borders Ukraine, which have been deployed to help NATO reinforce its eastern flank.

For his part, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson discussed, in a telephone conversation with President Zelensky, the possibility of providing Ukraine with long-range weapons.

The two leaders also discussed developments in the battles, and the requirements of the Ukrainian army, including long-range weapons, to prevent the bombing of civilians.

In other political developments, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said that Putin had pushed all his neighbors away from him and made NATO stronger than before.

In a statement to Al-Jazeera, the Austrian Foreign Minister added that there are doubts about Russia's diplomatic efforts, stressing that the Russians are using all military means to achieve gains on the ground.