Chris Lange, FISM News
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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered his forces not to storm the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, but rather to secure what is left of the sprawling structure “so that not even a fly comes through.”
It is estimated that roughly 2,000 Ukrainian forces, plus an unknown number of civilians, are said to be holed up in the plant which was virtually leveled by heavy bombing on Wednesday. Putin’s defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, said the rest of the city has been “liberated” – a term Russia uses in referring to areas its forces have seized. Putin welcomed the news as a “success” and said those who remain in the city, which has seen some of the worst suffering of the war, should surrender, adding that they will be treated “with respect.”
The city’s mayor previously stated that at least 20,000 people are feared dead as a result of nearly a two-month siege that has transformed Mariupol from a once-thriving port city to an unrecognizable wasteland of smoking rubble.
Ukrainian officials have not yet responded to Putin’s remarks but said earlier that four busloads of civilians managed to escape the city following several thwarted efforts. Another attempt to evacuate civilians had been scheduled for today, but it is not clear how the latest remarks from Russia will impact those plans.
Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Mikhailo Podolyak, called for talks inside of Mariupol in a last-ditch effort to negotiate the safe release of the last defenders.
“Without any conditions. We’re ready to hold a ‘special round of negotiations’ right in Mariupol,” he tweeted late Wednesday night.
Yes. Without any conditions. We’re ready to hold a “special round of negotiations” right in Mariupol. One on one. Two on two. To save our guys, Azov, military, civilians, children, the living & the wounded. Everyone. Because they are ours. Because they are in my heart. Forever.
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) April 20, 2022
Another mass grave discovered near Kyiv
Nine bodies were discovered in two mass graves in the city of Borodyanka, northwest of Ukraine’s capital city – adding to the thousands of civilians that have been killed by Russian forces.
Head of the Kyiv regional police, Andriy Nebytov, said the bodies of two women and a teenager were among the bodies discovered.
“I want to stress that these people are civilians. The Russian military deliberately shot civilians that didn’t put up any resistance and didn’t pose any threat,” Nebytov said, adding that it was apparent the victims were tortured. Hundreds of bodies discovered earlier this month in Bucha and other areas around the capital also bore evidence of atrocities.
Top Western officials stage walkout of G20 meeting
Top officials from the U.S., Britain, and Canada walked out during Wednesday’s G20 summit to protest the presence of Russian officials, Reuters reported. Many additional members spoke out against the country’s war in Ukraine at the meeting.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen was among those who walked out, telling participants she disapproved of a senior Russian official’s presence at the meeting. She was joined by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Ukrainian officials, Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Feeland, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde, and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey.
One source noted that Yellen told attendees there could be “no business-as-usual” for Russia in the global economy.
British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted, “We are united in our condemnation of Russia’s war against Ukraine and will push for stronger international coordination to punish Russia.”
Russia’s finance ministry did not reference the walkout but called on the bloc to refrain from politicizing meetings in a statement issued after the meeting.
“Another aspect of the current crisis is the undermining of confidence in the existing international monetary and financial system,” the ministry stated. “The safety of international reserves and the possibility of free trade and financial transactions are no longer guaranteed.”
Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who chaired the meeting in Washington, called for cooperation among the world’s leading economic leaders.
“This is an extraordinary situation,” he said during a post-meeting briefing. “It’s not business as usual, a very dynamic and challenging one.”
Indrawati joined the condemnation of Russia’s actions but urged G20 members to work together.
“In order for us to be able to recover together … we need more and even stronger cooperation,” Indrawati told a briefing. “The G20 is still … the premier forum for all of us to be able to discuss and talk about all the issues.”
More European leaders visit Kyiv; Zelenskyy says Biden ‘should come’
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen arrived in Ukraine’s capital – the latest European leaders to visit Kyiv in a show of support for the country.
“The West stands together to support the Ukrainian people,” Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, said in a statement.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said President Biden “should come.”
“It’s his decision of course, and about the safety situation, it depends,” Zelenskyy told CNN’s “State of the Union” host Jake Tapper. “I think he is the leader of the United States, and that’s why he should come here to see.”
Biden, who has yet to visit Kyiv, had previously said he was ready to go to Ukraine, but the White House has remained adamant that the president has no plans to visit.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki insisted on Friday, “We are not sending the president to Ukraine,” during a “Pod Save America” podcast, a day after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv.
“That is not in the plans for the president of the United States,” Psaki said, adding “We should all be maybe relieved about that.”