NEWS.am digest: Putin hails Russia’s “liberation” of Mariupol, battle for Donbas continues

Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of top news as of 21.04.22

MARIUPOL SITUATION

AZOVSTALI NKAR

President Vladimir Putin has hailed Russia’s “liberation” of Mariupol after Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told him Moscow controlled the Ukrainian port city apart from the Azovstal steel plant.

He ordered his forces not to storm the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in the besieged city but to block it instead.

Ukrainian fighters, in turn, say they have destroyed 3 Russian tanks and 3 more armed vehicles in Mariupol, which Moscow claims to have “liberated.”

Ukraine’s far-right Azov Battalion said in a brief report on Telegram that the vehicles were destroyed “despite the ongoing situation”.

Meanwhile, Kyiv is calling for a humanitarian corridor to be opened immediately to allow civilians and wounded fighters to be evacuated from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol.

“Hundreds of civilians, children, injured Ukrainian defenders are trapped in the plant’s shelters. They have almost no food, water, essential medicine,” the Ukrainian foreign ministry said in a statement.

BATTLE FOR DONBAS

DONBASIC NKAR

Two civilians have been killed and eight have been wounded, including one child, in the southeastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, the Ukrainian interior ministry has said.

Russian forces shelled eight towns throughout Donetsk amid Moscow’s renewed offensive, the ministry wrote on Telegram.

It added Russians used cruise missiles, Grad multiple-launcher systems, heavy artillery and tanks.

PROCTER AND GAMBLE

Household goods maker Procter & Gamble Co said in a securities filing on Wednesday that it may not be able to stay in business in Russia, citing the war’s impact on its customers, suppliers and distributors as a factor in its decision.

P&G has roughly 2,500 employees in Russia, with business in the country representing 2 percent of its net sales and global profit. The company also said its two factories in Ukraine could be destroyed.

There are roughly 500 P&G employees in Ukraine.

BIDEN’S RESPONSE

BIDENI NKAR

A majority of Americans think their president has not been “tough enough” in his response to the Ukraine war, although few want US troops to get involved in the conflict, according to the Associated Press.

A poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows 54 percent of those surveyed think Biden has been “not tough enough”, 36 percent think his approach has been about right, while 8 percent say he’s been too tough.

Only 32 percent of Americans say the US should have a major role in the conflict which has fallen from 40 percent last month but remains slightly higher than the 26 percent who said so in February.

AZERBAIJAN

The Azerbaijani media published photos of the "new road for Armenians" under construction to bypass the Lachin corridor.

On the road, which runs through difficult terrain, the construction of ring pipes and various artificial structures for water drainage is also underway. In this regard, the construction of a four-lane bridge 139.5 meters long, built on the 22nd kilometer of the road, is currently at the final stage.

The construction of the new road was provided for in paragraph 6 of the tripartite statement dated November 9, 2020, signed by Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders.

RUSSIAN MP

Russian State Duma MP Oleg Nilov said the relations between Russia and Turkey were much more critical than the Armenian-Turkish relations.

"There are relations with Turkey, they are developing economically, and Moscow, of course, is in favor of Yerevan normalizing relations with Ankara and its neighbors—moreover, both with Russia and separately. My personal position is that Russia should be interested in that," Nilov said.

According to the Russian MP, the existence of conflict situations and regions around Russia and its allies will not lead to anything good.

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