During military maneuvers in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad on Wednesday (May 4), Russia simulated "electronic launches" of nuclear-capable Iskander mobile ballistic missile systems, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. Russian forces carried out single and multiple strikes on targets that simulated missile system launchers, airfields, protected infrastructure, military equipment and command posts of a fictional enemy, the statement said.
After having carried out the “electronic” shots, the soldiers carried out a maneuver to change position in order to avoid “a possible retaliatory strike”, according to the Ministry of Defense. Combat units also practiced "operations under radiation and chemical contamination conditions". More than 100 soldiers participated in these exercises.
A ceasefire announced in the Azovstal factory
Russia announced Wednesday evening that its forces would cease fire on the Azovstal steel plant in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol and open a humanitarian corridor for three days from Thursday to evacuate civilians. "The Russian armed forces will open a humanitarian corridor from 08:00 to 18:00 Moscow time (05:00 to 15:00 GMT) on May 5, 6 and 7 from the site of the Azovstal metallurgical plant to evacuate civilians," the official said. Department of Defense. "During this period, the Russian armed forces and the units of the Donetsk People's Republic (unilaterally proclaimed by the pro-Russian separatists, editor's note) will cease fire and hostilities unilaterally," the ministry continued in a statement.
Civilians who have taken refuge in the factory will be allowed to reach Russia or the territories under the control of kyiv, according to this text. Earlier in the day, the mayor of the port city of Mariupol, Vadim Boïtchenko, had affirmed that "violent fighting" was underway, although Moscow had assured not to attack this huge factory where both Ukrainian fighters and civilians. For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to help "save" the injured at the Azovstal site.
Zelensky appeals to 'save' the injured
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday called on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to help "save" the wounded at the Azovstal steelworks site, besieged and bombarded by Russian troops.
"The lives of the people who remain there are in danger (...) We ask for your help to save them", indicated Volodymyr Zelensky, quoted by his press service, during a telephone interview with Antonio Guterres. The UN has already participated on Sunday in organizing the evacuation of a hundred civilians trapped in Azovstal with the Ukrainian soldiers who are defending this last pocket of resistance in the strategic port which is almost entirely controlled by Russian forces.