Chronicle of the war with Ukraine. Day 55

23:01

No one used the humanitarian corridor to leave Azovstal, according to Russia's Interdepartmental Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response.

Earlier, Channel One and TASS reported that 120 civilians came out of the basement near the entrance of the plant.

Russia again offers the Ukrainian military to surrender - this time tomorrow from 14:00 Moscow time. Also in the statement of the headquarters they promise the safe evacuation of civilians, "if they are on the territory of Azovstal."

Ukrainian authorities claim that there are about a thousand civilians on the territory of the plant. Russia called these messages "fake stuffing."

21:41

The Russian Defense Ministry asked the government to transfer to the military registration and enlistment offices the authority to issue certificates to a military family member who died in the war in Ukraine, follows from the draft resolution, which drew the attention of the BBC Russian Service.

The explanatory note explicitly states that the Ministry of Defense is asking for this "in order to limit the circle of persons with access to information" about the relatives of those killed in Ukraine.

Now the issuance of such certificates is carried out by civil servants - employees of district administrations.

20:46

Ukrainian Red Cross volunteers Vladimir Khropun and Yulia Ivannikova-Katsimon, who were captured by the Russian military, spoke about beatings and abuse in captivity, reports . Reuters

They were taken prisoner and accused of passing information to the Ukrainian authorities about the actions of Russian troops. Volunteers deny this and say that they took civilians out of cities and villages occupied by Russian forces in the Kyiv region, which is why they regularly crossed the front line.

Khropun, 44, an electrical engineer, was detained on March 18: “They arrested me, covered my eyes - pulled a hat over my eyes, wrapped it with tape - and then wrapped my hands with tape like a terrorist.” 37-year-old Ivannikova-Katsimon, a dispatcher of the State Emergency Service, was detained the next day.

At first, they were kept with 40 other prisoners with their hands tied on the concrete floor of an unheated factory in the village of Dymer in the Kyiv region - on thin mattresses or scraps of cardboard. Instead of a toilet, they could only use a plastic pot.

According to Khropun, food was brought to the prisoners once or twice a day, mostly army crackers and sometimes hot meals. There were only two plastic spoons, and people had to eat with their hands or scraps of paper.

A week later, the volunteers and 14 other prisoners were taken in a military truck to Belarus and from there to a detention center in Russia.

In Belarus, they were photographed for identification with personal data. Ivannikova-Katsimon said that she was then stripped naked in order to fix the scars for this document, and then they poured water over her and beat her. In addition, she talks about using a stun gun on her.

In Russia, Ukrainians visited several places of detention. Ivannikova-Katsimon was even told that they would send her to work in a logging camp in Siberia.

Khropun spoke about repeated interrogations in captivity in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia - sometimes during them he was forced to kneel for a long time in cold rooms or beaten on his knees and ribs. According to the volunteer, the guards especially brutally beat young prisoners and shaved their heads and beards, sometimes leaving part of their hair as a humiliation.

They were returned home and released in a prisoner exchange on 9 April.

19:43

The BBC learned about another conscript from the cruiser Moskva, whose fate after the sinking of the ship is unknown - 21-year-old Sergei Grudinin from the village of Ilinovka in the Amur Region. The last time he contacted his parents was on April 10.

“He said that he was going to sea, we sent him money to the card. I also asked: son, is it scary there? I understand that there is a war. He says: nothing, mom, everything is fine, ”recalls Tamara Grudinina.

After the news of the sinking of the cruiser, she called the Ministry of Defense hotline, where she was told that her son was alive and well and asked to wait for a call from him.

But soon a man who called himself Pavel Vakula called her and said that her son was missing. Vakula was mentioned by the mother of another missing conscript, Yegor Shkrebets.

Some time later, Grudinina received a call from a man who introduced himself as the commander of her son and reported the death of a conscript. “[The commander] led them out in a chain, the chain broke, and your son remained on the ship,” the woman retold the commander’s story. “In general, he sank along with the ship.”

After that, Tamara Grudinina called the ministry's hotline again, but she was again assured that 21-year-old Sergei was alive and well and would contact her soon.

Several families have already spoken about the death or disappearance of their sons, who served on the cruiser on conscription. The Russian Ministry of Defense did not report losses as a result of the sinking of the ship.

19:27

120 civilians left the territory of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, reports Interfax , citing Channel One. This is also reported by TASS with reference to a source in the power structures of the DPR.

Earlier today, the deputy commander of the Azov Regiment, Svyatoslav Palamar , told Radio Liberty that the plant was “almost completely bombed out,” leaving some people under the rubble. He did not specify whether he was talking about civilians hiding there or the military.

This morning in the DPR they announced the beginning of the assault on the plant, but a few hours later the Russian Ministry of Defense promised to open a humanitarian corridor from Azovstal. At the same time, the department said that the corridor was for the Ukrainian military, denying the presence of civilians on the territory of the plant. Ukrainian authorities have previously reported that there are about a thousand civilians in the basements of the plant, who were hiding there from shelling.

17:42

RIA Novosti claims that school No. 53 in Mariupol has resumed lessons. In a video released by the agency, children in the assembly hall listen to the Russian national anthem.

This is a school in the right-bank part of the city. It is located just a few kilometers from the Azovstal plant, in the basements of which the Ukrainian military and civilians were blocked. Ukrainian authorities report shelling and airstrikes on the territory of the plant.

17:04

In the Zaporozhye region, most of which is occupied by the Russian army, since the beginning of the war, 69 civilians have been kidnapped and still have not returned home, reports . Ukrainian Ombudsman Lyudmila Denisova

Another 86 people were released after the abduction.

“Out of the total number of abductees, 34 representatives of local authorities (24 were released), 14 entrepreneurs (six were released), 12 heads of enterprises, institutions, organizations (five were released), three lawyers (two were released), two journalists were released,” Denisova specified. .

Yesterday, according to her, the Russian military abducted two police officers and a lifeguard.

Denisova also claims that a captured Ukrainian soldier was brought to the hospital under escort of the Russian military in Melitopol. “According to a representative of the Zaporozhye Regional State Administration, the servicemen “tortured and abused him so that he tried to cut his veins.” The doctors had to operate on the fighter at gunpoint,” the Ombudsman writes.

16:22

Tinkoff Bank founder Oleg Tinkov condemned the Russian invasion and called on the "collective West" to give Russian President Vladimir Putin the opportunity to save face and stop the war in Ukraine.

16:02

During today's shelling of residential areas of Kharkov, three people were killed, another 16 people were injured, said . Oleg Sinegubov, head of the regional administration,

According to him, the shelling was carried out by the Russian military, using multiple launch rocket systems from a distance of 35-40 kilometers.

15:51

The Russian Foreign Ministry declared 14 employees of the Dutch Embassy in Moscow and one employee of the Consulate General in St. Petersburg persona non grata.

Russia will have to leave Also, several Belgian diplomats . The measures, as specified by the department, were taken in response to the expulsion of employees of Russian embassies.

15:27

Ukraine and Russia exchanged prisoners for the fifth time, said Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Irina Vereshchuk . According to her, there was an exchange of 16 civilians and 60 military, of which 10 are officers.

15:07

The Russian military opened a humanitarian corridor for the Ukrainian military, who voluntarily laid down their arms, to leave Azovstal, reports with reference to Mikhail Mizintsev, a representative of the Russian Defense Ministry. RIA Novosti

“Given the catastrophic situation that has developed at the Azovstal metallurgical plant in the city of Mariupol, and also guided by purely humane principles, from 14.00 Moscow time on April 19, 2022, the Russian armed forces opened a humanitarian corridor for the withdrawal of Ukrainian servicemen and militants of nationalist formations who voluntarily laid down their arms,” — Mizintsev said.

According to him, a regime of complete silence has been introduced and any hostilities have been stopped, units of the Russian army and DPR formations have been withdrawn to a safe distance around the entire perimeter of the plant. Three humanitarian convoys have been opened, each with 30 buses and cars, as well as 10 ambulances.

Last night, the authorities of the Donetsk region noted that civilians were hiding on the territory of Azovstal. This morning, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Irina Vereshchuk said that Ukraine failed to agree on a humanitarian corridor for Mariupol with Russia.

14:44

On April 15-17, four people were killed in the Luhansk region due to shelling, four more were injured, reports . the office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine

Due to shelling, private and multi-storey residential buildings were damaged and destroyed. In Severodonetsk and Kremennaya, two cars and two trucks of local residents were destroyed. In Lisichansk, a fire broke out at an oil refinery due to shelling and the building of the patrol police department was partially destroyed.

14:15

In Ukraine, 919 settlements have been returned from Russian control, writes Hromadske with reference to the deputy head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Kyrylo Tymoshenko. About two thousand cities and villages are under the control of the Russian army.

The work of self-government bodies has been restored in almost a third of 919 settlements. At 70, mine clearance was already completed. Humanitarian headquarters work in 192 settlements.

According to Tymoshenko, in the Sumy, Chernihiv, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr and Zaporozhye regions, three thousand settlements were or remain under Russian control. In the entire Sumy region, except for four cities and villages, power supply has been restored. In the Chernihiv region, it has been restored by 97%.

14:03

Due to the night shelling of Nikolaev, two people were injured, there were no deaths, said the mayor of the city Alexander Senkevich. Power line pole destroyed.

13:22

German manufacturer of hygiene products and household chemicals Henkel ceases operations in Russia due to the war in Ukraine. In a press release, the company says that 2.5 thousand of its employees in Russia will continue to work and receive salaries.

In Russia, Henkel produces products under brands such as Persil, Bref, Losk, Laska, Syoss, Fa, as well as Moment glue

12:21

Over the past day, five people were killed in the Kharkiv region, another 17 people were injured, reports UNIAN with reference to the head of the Kharkiv regional administration Oleg Sinegubov. According to him, shelling came from multiple launch rocket systems and rocket artillery, including in the historical center of Kharkov.

11:42

More than 2,000 civilians have died in Ukraine since the beginning of the war.

According to the UN, since February 24, 2,072 people have been killed in Ukraine and another 2,818 people have been injured. It is noted that the real figures are higher, as information from some places is delayed or needs to be confirmed, such as in Mariupol, Popasna, Izyum and Borodyanka, from which many reports of victims come that are not yet included in these statistics.

11:33

due to shelling were injured In the Belgorod village of Golovchino , three people , 30 houses were damaged , Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov writes.

He also spoke about the victims: “One has already been discharged and is on outpatient treatment. Two women in the hospital, under the supervision of qualified doctors. All medicines are available. Wounds of moderate severity.

11:06

Almost the entire Lugansk region is de-energized, reports . the head of the regional administration Serhiy Gaidai

According to him, the Russian military damaged the high-voltage line. There is no electricity in approximately 215 towns and villages.

10:13

On the territory of Azovstal, assault groups have begun work, says Eduard Basurin, a representative of the people's militia of the self-proclaimed DPR.

“As far as I know, part of the assault groups that were selected specifically for the assault on this object have already begun their work,” Basurin told Russia 24 TV channel.

He also claims that there are no civilians on the territory of the plant. Mikhail Vershinin, head of the Donetsk region patrol police , said yesterday that about 1,000 people were hiding there.

9:52

Russia has refused to provide a humanitarian corridor for the exit of civilians from Mariupol to Berdyansk, reports Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Irina Vereshchuk . Humanitarian corridors in Ukraine will not work for the third day in a row.

Yesterday Vereshchuk demanded that Russia open an urgent corridor from the territory of Azovstal to evacuate civilians. Mikhail Vershinin, head of the patrol police of the Donetsk region , reported that about 1,000 people were hiding on the territory of the plant.

9:27

Near the city of Avdiivka, Donetsk region, one person was killed due to shelling, said the head of the Donetsk regional administration Pavel Kirilenko.

The victim, he said, was a civilian. Several residential buildings were damaged and the gas pipeline was interrupted. “At Avdiivka, the Russians twice tried to go on the offensive - both attempts were stopped by the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” writes Kirilenko.

The head of the Donetsk regional administration also noted the constant shelling in the cities of Maryinka and Toretsk.

9:02

The city of Zelenodolsk in the Dnepropetrovsk region was shelled at night, writes the head of the regional administration, Valentin Reznichenko. Also, according to the head of the administration of Krivoy Rog Alexander Vilkul, the villages of Maryanskoye and Velikaya Kostromka were fired upon. There is destruction, no deaths.

8:52

The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, spoke about the shelling of the village of Golovchino by Ukraine. A local resident was injured , there is destruction.

Results of the 54th day of the war

The Russian army, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, launched an offensive in the east of the country. “Russian troops have begun the battle for Donbass, which they have been preparing for a long time,” Zelensky said.

On the territory of the Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol, about 1,000 people are hiding from shelling and air strikes. Air strikes on the plant are reported.

Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk turned to Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky with a request to be exchanged by the Ukrainian side for the defenders of Mariupol and its residents.

Meduza, citing a source close to the command of the Black Sea Fleet, reported the death of 37 people on the sunken cruiser Moskva, about 100 people were injured.

Ilya Navalny, a resident of Bucha, who was shot dead by the Russian military, turned out to be a distant relative of Russian politician Alexei Navalny.

Cover photo: David Peinado Romero, Shutterstock.com