Ukraine plans daring escape plan as terrifying WW3 claim made

Soldiers and civilians trapped in the besieged steel plant in Mariupol could be freed within hours, while a senior UK Minister said a world war could break out in just days.

Ukraine said plans were in place to evacuate civilians from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in the southern city of Mariupol where soldiers and civilians are trapped by Russian troops.

“An operation to evacuate civilians from the Azovstal factory is planned for today,” the Ukrainian presidency said in a statement.

Russia last week said it had gained full control of the strategic port city, except for the huge Azovstal industrial area.

Clouds of smoke billowing above Azovstal steel plant and the destroyed gates of Azov Shipyard earlier this month.

This file satellite image released on April 12, 2022, by Maxar Technologies shows an overview of Azovstal iron and steel works factory in eastern Mariupol.

President Vladimir Putin ordered a blockade of the steelworks, where hundreds of civilians are sheltering with Ukrainian troops, according to Ukraine, including those requiring medical attention.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said this week that the United Nations was doing everything possible to ensure the evacuation of civilians from the “apocalypse” in Mariupol.

A UN representative to Ukraine said during the visit she was travelling to the central city of Zaporizhzhia to prepare for a “hopeful” evacuation.

“The UN is fully mobilised to help save Ukrainian lives and to assist those in need,” UN in Ukraine Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator Osnat Lubrani said

WORLD WAR WARNING

Vladimir Putin could declare a new world war within days, the UK’s Defence Secretary has warned.

Mr Putin - who has also been threatening the use of nuclear weapons - might use traditional Victory Day celebrations on May 9, which mark the end of World War Two, to spark a war with the “world’s nazis”, Ben Wallace claimed.

Mr Wallace also said Russia’s occupation of Ukraine risked becoming “a sort of cancerous growth” that must be cut out.

He made the alarming comments to London broadcaster LBC.

“I would not be surprised . . . that he is probably going to declare on May Day that ‘We are now at war with the world’s Nazis and we need to mass mobilise the Russian people’.”

Britain's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace. Picture:AFP

“Putin, having failed in nearly all objectives, may seek to consolidate what he’s got . . . and just be a sort of cancerous growth within the country.”

The Defence Secretary said Ukraine needed more help to thwart the Russian invaders, telling LBC the UK would continue to supply weapons to the government in Kyiv and was looking at providing anti-ship missiles.

“We have to help Ukrainians effectively get the limpet off the rock and keep the momentum pushing them back.”

RUSSIA aDMITS MISSILES FIRED DURING UN CHIEF’S KYIV VISIT

Russia’s defence ministry has confirmed it carried out an air strike on Kyiv during a visit by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

“High-precision, long-range air-based weapons of the Russian Aerospace Forces have destroyed the production buildings of the Artyom missile and space enterprise in Kyiv,” the ministry said in its daily briefing on the conflict in Ukraine on Friday.

Ukraine said that one person had been killed in the strike on Thursday, the first in the capital in nearly two weeks and which Mr Guterres’s spokesman described as “shocking”.

Mr Guterres on Thursday toured Bucha and other Kyiv suburbs where Moscow is alleged to have committed war crimes.

Ukrainian Preident Volodymyr Zelenskyy (R) and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres give a joint press conference following their talks in Kyiv on April 28, 2022. Picture: AFP

The defence ministry said its forces had carried out a range of air strikes on Thursday, destroying three power substations at Ukrainian railway hubs and a Tochka-U missile launcher that it said had carried out an attack on the Russian-held city of Kherson.

“Missile strikes in the downtown of Kyiv during the official visit of Antonio Guterres,” tweeted Mr Zelenskyy’s office, with AFP correspondents hearing the blast and seeing smoke and flames coming from the area.

“By this heinous act of barbarism Russia demonstrates once again its attitude towards Ukraine, Europe and the world,” Ukraine’s defence minister tweeted.

Russia stroke Kyiv with cruise missiles right when UN Secretary General @antonioguterres and Bulgarian PM @KirilPetkov visit our capital. By this heinous act of barbarism Russia demonstrates once again its attitude towards Ukraine, Europe and the world.

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) April 28, 2022

Images from the aftermath show smoke rising from close to central Kyiv.

Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba both said the blasts were caused by Russian missiles.

AFP witnesses had earlier reported the sound of two blasts.

Mr Zelenskyy‘s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said the blasts were “proof that we need a quick victory over Russia … We must act quickly — more weapons, more humanitarian efforts … because every day, Ukraine pays a high price for the protection of democracy and freedom.”

Smoke rises after an explosion at sunset in Kyiv, Ukraine. Picture: Getty Images

The incident came after the German parliament voted in favour of providing Ukraine with heavy weapons, backing a shift in policy that came with the decision to send tanks to Kyiv earlier this week.

Berlin’s move came shortly before US President Joe Biden announced a plan to send a further $US33bn ($A47bn) to Ukraine to help in its war against Russia.

RADIO PRODUCER KILLED IN KYIV STRIKE

The US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty said one of its staff had died in a Russian strike on Kyiv during a UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ visit.

“Radio Liberty journalist and producer Vera Gyrych died as a result of a Russian missile hitting the house where she lived in Kyiv. The attack took place on April 28,” the Ukrainian branch of the news organisation said in a statement.

Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said in a statement on social media that rescuers had discovered the remains of one person in the rubble after the attack.

The statement said that Gyrych began working at Radio Liberty’s Kyiv’s bureau in early 2018 after spending time in newsrooms with Ukrainian media.

The editorial board extended its condolences to her family and said it would “remember her as a bright and kind person, a true professional”.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, an international media advocacy group says that at least seven journalists have been killed in Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion on Februray 24.

ZELENSKYY, PUTIN INVITED TO G20 SUMMIT

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been invited to the G20 summit in November, which will also be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the president of host nation Indonesia said.

“I have invited President Zelenskyy to attend the G20 summit,” said Joko Widodo, suggesting a compromise had been reached following Western pressure to bar Russia from the event in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Putin confirmed in a phone call with Mr Widodo he will attend the summit, to take place on Bali island, the Indonesian leader said in a livestreamed address.

Russia is a G20 member, while Ukraine is not.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Indonesia has faced fierce pressure from Western countries, led by the United States, to bar Russia from the summit.

But Jakarta had insisted that, as the host, it must remain impartial, while US President Joe Biden had suggested Ukraine could take part.

Mr Zelenskyy had announced in a tweet that he was invited to the summit by Indonesia on Wednesday, following a call with Widodo

AUSTRALIA SENDS CANNONS TO UKRAINE

Australia has boosted its commitment to the war in Ukraine, dispatching six howitzer cannons and ammunition for the frontline fight with against its Russian invaders.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison made the announcement on Wednesday of the gifting of the M777 155mm lightweight towed howitzers worth $26 million, bringing the total Australian commitment of arms to embattled Ukraine to $225 million.

Earlier this month Australia gave Ukraine 20 Bushmaster armoured vehicles.

“They’re on their way this morning, the Opposition was advised of that. That continues to increase our very significant investment in supporting Ukraine at a time when their freedom and their liberty is under threat,” Mr Morrison said.

An M777 howitzer from 1st Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery, is prepared for transportation before being loaded onto a truck at Gallipoli Barracks in Brisbane. Picture: Defence

The M777 has been a critical piece of kit for the Australian Army, a significant advance in its capabilities as a more rapid deployable weapon to support ground troops with both conventional and precision-guided projectiles.

The Howitzers were loaded on a truck at Gallipoli Barracks in Brisbane for air delivery to Poland.

Previously Australia has supported Ukraine’s position with weapons systems, anti-armour weapons, medical supplies and financial support.

The latest delivery came hours after the United States called on its allies including Australia to “move heaven and earth” to keep Kyiv well supplied with weapons as Russia upped its assault.

RAAF No. 23 Squadron load a M777 155mm lightweight towed howitzer bound for Ukraine onto a C-17A Globemaster III aircraft at RAAF Base Amberley in Queensland. Picture: Defence

Russia has warned its conflict with its neighbour could escalate into World War III as the Kremlin bemoaned the support Western nations were providing Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the risk of a global war was “serious, it is real, you can’t underestimate that”.

His comment came after both the US and NATO pledged greater heavy weapons including artillery in support of Ukraine which Russia invaded at the end of February.

Originally published as Ukraine plans daring escape plan as terrifying WW3 claim made