Evacuation corridor out of Mariupol fails. On the morning of April 20, the Vice Prime Minister – Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories Iryna Vereshchuk said Ukraine had agreed with Russian forces to open an evacuation corridor from Mariupol. Up to six thousand people were to leave the city on Wednesday. As the Russian troops never stopped firing, efforts to secure a safe passage out of Mariupol failed.
“As [Russia] has no control of its military on the ground, it failed to ensure a ceasefire,” Vereshchuk said. “The occupying force failed to take people to a pick up point where dozens of our buses and ambulances were waiting,” Vereshchuk said on the evening of April 20.
Ukraine ready to swap prisoners with Russia on any terms to bring civilians out of Mariupol. Ukraine is ready to swap prisoners with Russia to unblock Mariupol, President Zelenskyi said.
“We are ready to swap the Russian troops for our people. They leave the bodies in the street, and abandon the wounded. We stand ready for any possible exchange to save our people,” President Zelenskyi said at a joint press availability with the President of the European Council Charles Michel.
There will be NATO allies involved in evacuation of civilians and wounded soldiers from Mariupol, if it happens, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland said.
Russia fails to break through Ukraine’s defenses in Donbas, incurs losses in Luhansk region. Russia’s attempts to conduct an assault and break through Ukrainian defenses failed, head of Luhansk regional military administration Serhiy Hayday said. Hospitals are filled with wounded Russians, he added.
The U.S. assesses there have been no major territorial gains for Russia so far since the start of the new push, according to two senior US officials with direct knowledge of the assessment.
The U.S. has observed some new attacks by Russian forces, which appear to be probing attacks to test Ukrainian defenses, one of the officials said.
Ukraine in Flames #41. How does Russia violate the Geneva Convention by using chemical weapons?
The 1925 Geneva Protocol prohibits the use of chemical and biological weapons in war. The 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) bans production, use and stockpiling of chemical weapons. Russia has signed and ratified both documents. Yet, they did not stop the aggressor from using chemical weapons on its domestic political opponents and on citizens of Syria and Ukraine. Remains of chemical weapons were found in the village of Bilka, Okhtyrka district, Sumy region. Traces of sarin and discarded ampoules were discovered, Sumy region officials report. It is possible that the occupants wanted to use sarin in Kyiv, Poltava or other cities. Earlier this month the Russian army had used an unknown poisonous substance against the Ukrainian military and civilians in Mariupol. The victims had respiratory failure and incoordination, as eyewitnesses stated.
The Pentagon said it had no evidence that the Russian military had used chemical weapons in Mariupol so far. The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky encouraged the world to react preventively. So how does Russia violate international agreements on the non-use of chemical weapons in Ukraine today? What should the global community do today? Ukraine in Flames #41 deliberates.
Speakers:
Viktor Trehubov, captain of Ukrainian Armed Forces
Volodymyr Sarkisian, chemist and journalist
Iuriy Oliinyk, PhD in Political Science, Head of Research Programs of “Ukrainian Studies of Strategic Disquisitions” Non-Governmental Analytical Center