Evacuation efforts to focus on getting wounded and medics out of Azovstal.

 A view shows a plant of Azovstal Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol. (photo credit: REUTERS/ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO)
A view shows a plant of Azovstal Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol. (photo credit: REUTERS/ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO)

 

Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Russia’s republic of Chechnya, said on Sunday his soldiers have taken control of most of the eastern Ukrainian city of Popasna, while Ukrainian officials said a battle for the town in the east of the country is ongoing.

In mid-April, Russian forces launched a new offensive push along most of Ukraine’s eastern flank, with some of most intense attacks and shelling taking place recently around Popasna in the Luhansk region.

“Fighters of the Chechen special forces … have taken most of Popasna under control,” Kadyrov, who has often described himself as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “foot soldier,” wrote in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

“The main streets and central districts of the town have been completely cleared.”

Reuters was not able to independently verify the reports.

There was no immediate response from Ukraine, but late Saturday Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said heavy fighting for the town continues.

 People walk their bikes across the street as smoke rises above a plant of Azovstal Iron and Steel Works during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine May 2, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO)
People walk their bikes across the street as smoke rises above a plant of Azovstal Iron and Steel Works during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine May 2, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO)

 

“Russian propagandists have joyfully reported that they have already taken it, but this is not quite how it is. This is their 117th ‘capture of Popasna’ claim only this week.”

Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of the Luhansk region, said earlier on Saturday that Ukrainian forces still controlled the area. “The situation is very difficult, but under control,” Gaidai said in a Telegram video post.

He added that Chechen troops were not taking part in fighting, but were looting and taking videos.

Kadyrov has frequently posted on Telegram reports and videos of Chechen soldiers allegedly participating in activities in Ukraine, but there has been no confirmation of how many have actually been deployed and whether they have participated in the fighting.

Evacuations out of Azovstal

Evacuation efforts will focus on getting the wounded and medics out of Mariupol’s bombed-out Azovstal steelworks after all the women, children and elderly trapped in the plant were brought to safety, said Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukrainian resistance fighters in the plant have vowed not to surrender and Russian forces are seeking to declare a victory in the prolonged battle for the vast plant in time for Monday’s Victory Day celebrations in Moscow, which commemorate when the Soviet Union triumphed over Nazi Germany in World War Two.

The Soviet-era Azovstal steel mill, the last holdout for Ukrainian forces in the key port city, has become a symbol of resistance to the Russian effort to capture swaths of eastern and southern Ukraine in the 10-week-old war.

US President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders are to hold a video call with Zelensky on Sunday in a show of unity ahead of Victory Day, in which President Vladimir Putin typically inspects a massive military parade in Moscow.

“Putin’s brutal attack is not only causing untold devastation in Ukraine – but it is also threatening peace and security across Europe,” Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement on Saturday pledging more military aid.

As reported by The Jerusalem Post