NEWS FROM UKRAINIAN MAYORS  As Russia bombards the citiesUkrainian mayors stay defiant By City Mayors News 29 May 2022: From Sievierodonetsk ||| Ukrainian mayors' war diaries ||| German and Russian cities in time of war WORLD MAYOR 2023: The 2023 World Mayor Prize is dedicated to Friendship between Cities. The Honours will be awarded to mayors and cities that have made outstanding contributions to friendship, partnership and cooperation between towns and cities at home and across borders. PLEASE ELECT YOUR CANDIDATES Russia attacks towns in eastern Ukraine From Sievierodonetsk (Mayor Oleksandr Striuk) According to the Ukrainian military, Russian forces are pushing ahead with their major offensive in Donbass. On Thursday and Friday (26/27 May) Russian troops shelled more than 40 towns in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and destroyed or damaged 47 civilian facilities, including 38 houses and a school. The Ukrainian military has admitted a setback in the battle for the strategically important city of Lyman in the Donbass. Officials are conceding that the town has been lost to pro-Russian forces. According to the situation report of the Ukrainian General Staff, the enemy is "trying to establish itself in the Lyman area" and has been shelling shelling towns outside the city for the past 48 hours. The pro-Russian separatists reported the capture of Lyman on Friday (27 May). The General Staff has now announced that Russian troops are shelling the towns of Oserne and Dibrowa with grenade and rocket launchers. Both villages are southeast of Lyman. This indicates that the front is now south of the city. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops are likely to withdraw from the big eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, which Russian forces are close to surrounding, an Ukrainian official said. Serhiy Haidai, governor of Luhansk, said Russians were in part of the city. "It is possible that in order not to be surrounded, Ukrainian defenders will have to leave." Russia has made seizing the whole eastern Donbas region a key war aim. 22 May 2022: From Mariupol ||| From Sievierodonetsk ||| Ukrainian mayors' war diaries ||| German and Russian cities in time of war  Mariupol Mayor compares Russianattacks to bombing of Hiroshima From Mariupol (Mayor Vadym Boychenko) The Mayor of the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol has described the Russian attacks on his city as the greatest genocide in Europe since World War II. Vadym Boychenko also compared the scale of the bombings on his city to the atomic bomb dropped by the Americans on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945. “The power of the shells fired on Mariupol was greater than that of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima,” he wrote on his official Telegram channel. “For more than two months, Russian troops have continuously shelled Mariupol with howitzers, rocket systems from tanks, ships and planes. Heavy Russian FAB-1000 and FAB-3000 free-fall bombs, weighing one and three tons respectively were used.” “While Russia was threatening the world with weapons of mass destruction, its forces carried out mass destruction of civilians in Mariupol," the Mayor lamented. He spoke of a ‘crime against humanity’. According to Mayor Boychenko, at least 20,000 residents have died since the attacks on and the occupation of the city of Mariupol. While the information cannot be verified independently, aid organisations have repeatedly said that civilians have had no or insufficient opportunity to escape from Mariupol. Four weeks ago, satellite images showed mass graves near the city. From Sievierodonetsk (Mayor Oleksandr Striuk) Ukraine fears a further advance of Russian troops after they have completely taken the port city of Mariupol and the Azovstal steelworks. The Ukrainian military governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Hajday, reported massive fighting in the Donbass on Saturday (21 May). For example, the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk has been under fire for days. According to Sievierodonetsk Mayor Oleksandr Striuk, up to 15,000 civilians still remain in the city’s bomb shelters, and 70 per cent of residential buildings in Sievierodonetsk have been destroyed or damaged.' Luhansk governor Serhiy Gaidai said that Russian troops were trying to destroy Sieverodonetsk and that fighting was going on from dawn to dusk. Sieverodonetsk, along with its twin city of Lysychansk across the Severskiy Donets River, has been held by Ukrainian troops since the beginning of the war, despite numerous attacks. According to Gaidais, the Russians destroyed a bridge between the two cities on Saturday (21 May). 18 May 2022: From Azovstal steelworks ||| From Kharkiv ||| From Lviv ||| Ukrainian mayors' war diaries ||| German and Russian cities in time of war  Mariupol’s Azovstal defenders faceuncertain future in Russian captivity From Mariupol (Mayor Vadym Boychenko) After two months of Russian blockade, the first 260 Ukrainian soldiers have now (17 May) left Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks. According to a Ukrainian military spokesman, the Russian forces have agreed to take the most seriously wounded men to the pro-Russian separatist-controlled city of Novoazovsk for medical treatment. They are later to be released as part of a prisoner exchange, although there has been no official confirmation from Russia. While Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said the Ukrainian evacuated troops would be dealt with according to international law, a spokesman for the Kremlin refused to comment on the status of the soldiers and did not provide details whether the Ukrainians would be treated as war criminals or as prisoners of war. The evacuation of other fighters from the plant is still in progress. Several hundred soldiers are said to be still on the site. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar stressed again that it had not been possible to free the Azovstal defenders by military means. The Russian news agency RIA reported on Wednesday (18 May) that since Monday (16 May), a total of 959 Ukrainian fighters, who had holed up in the besieged Azovstal steelworks for weeks, had “surrendered”, including 80 injured. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his daily video address that Ukraine needs its heroes alive. In addition to Ukrainian authorities, the International Red Cross and the United Nations were also involved in the evacuation of the soldiers from the steelworks. The National Guard’s Azov Regiment and the 36th Marine Brigade, holding off at the Azovstal steel plant, were the last Ukrainian forces defending Mariupol, a city with a pre-war population of 450,000, now occupied and nearly completely destroyed by Russian troops. The Kyiv Independent newspaper quoted the Commander of the Azov regiment saying that the defenders held off the enemy for 82 days, thus allowing the Ukrainian army to regroup, train more personnel, and receive a large number of weapons from partner countries. Hundreds of civilians who had earlier in the war fled from advancing Russians to the steelworks had already been evacuated in the past few days. There were long negotiations about the withdrawal of the soldiers, some of whom were seriously injured, and who had hardly any supplies or water left. In recent weeks some media sources accused the government in Kyiv that it had abandoned the last defenders of Mariupol. Kharkiv mayor urges speedy rebuilding of city From Kharkiv (Mayor Ihor Terekhov) While Russian rockets still hit some of the eastern suburbs of Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv, Russia’s attempt to conquer the city has failed. A spokesman for Ukraine’s general staff said on Monday (16 May) that the Russians troops are now aiming to prevent the Ukraine army reaching the border with Russia. Meanwhile, Kharkiv’s Mayor Ihor Terekhov has presented plans on how to repair and rebuild the city. In a meeting with Ukrainian government officials on Monday (16 May) he urged President Zelensky to support the city’s efforts to bring back normality. The mayor was scathing about plans to provide internally displaced residents from Kharkiv with temporary housing in western Ukraine. "There is nothing more permanent than temporary. Therefore, I am categorically against temporary housing. And there is no need to install modular towns in western Ukraine, spending 30 per cent of the funds, or even more, of what permanent housing requires. We have projects, resources, opportunity and construction personnel. Therefore, let's start building already. There is nothing to delay," the mayor said. Threat to Lviv’s World Heritage site From Lviv (Mayor Andriy Sadovyi) There has been a reported air raid near die City of Lviv, in western Ukraine. According to area’s military commander Maxim Kositsky, Russia targeted military installations in Yavoriv, between Lviv and the border with Poland. In mid-March, a Russian airstrike hit the same military training area, killing 35 people. The facilities are used to train Ukrainian soldiers on western military equipment. Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said in a media post that thanks to air defenses the city hadn’t been hit. The Mayor of Lviv has also warned about the Russian threat to the Old Town of the city, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. While there had been no damage as yet, the many international organisation in the city should be very concerned, the Mayor said. 14 May 2022: From Asovstal steelworks ||| From Kharkiv ||| From Kherson ||| Ukrainian mayors' war diaries ||| German and Russian cities in time of war Tentative talks to evacuate wounded from Azovstal plant From Mariupol (Mayor Vadym Boychenko) Ukraine says it is in talks with Russia about evacuating seriously injured soldiers from the besieged Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol. The talks are "very difficult," said Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. It is initially only about 38 soldiers who could be exchanged for captured Russians. Various media had previously spoken of possibly 500 to 600 Ukrainians who could be brought out of the steel plant as part of these negotiations. Vereshchuk rejected this nuymber. "We work step by step." We work closely with the Red Cross and the United Nations. Turkey is now also involved as a mediator. According to the Ukrainian newspaper Ukrajinska Pravda, Turkey suggested that its military could evacuate all Ukrainian soldiers from Azovstal by sea. They would then be taken to Turkey and remain there until the end of the war. Meanwhile, Odessa Mayor Gennady Trukhanov called the Ukrainian soldiers trapped in the steelworks real heroes. “In my opinion, Mariupol saves not only Odessa, but the whole of Ukraine," said the Mayor. “This selflessness shown by our military in Mariupol is a true example of heroism." From Kharkiv (Mayor Ihor Terekhov) According to the Ukrainian military, Russian troops are withdrawing from the city of Kharkiv after weeks of bombardment. The Ukrainian general staff announced that the Russian soldiers are now concentrating on guarding supply routes. At the same time, further artillery and air strikes were carried out to weaken Ukrainian troops and destroy fortifications, sources said. Ihor Terekhov, the Mayor of Kharkiv, confirmed the withdrawal of Russian forces in the direction of the Russian border. The Mayor said, after weeks of bombardment, an eerie silence had descended over the city. “Now it is calm in Kharkiv, people are gradually coming back to the city. We provide water, gas and electricity supply to all the citizens. However, unfortunately, many residential buildings are destroyed or damaged. So, in the future we will have to do huge reconstruction,” Mayor Terekhov told the BBC. From Kherson (Mayor Ihor Kolykhaiev) The city of Kherson was one of the first cities in Ukraine to be captured by Russian troops. A local doctor told the German news programme Morgenmagazin that after the first reports of the atrocities in Bucha, residents left the city. "There was a mass exodus". Kherson is totally blocked. People lived off what they could find on the streets. After the first protests against the occupiers, the Russian soldiers arrested many demonstrators. Their whereabouts are unknown to this day. Kherson's streets are now completely empty. 12 May 2022: From inside Asovstal steelworks ||| Ukrainian mayors' war diaries ||| German and Russian cities in time of war  From inside Azovstal steelworksMen are dying every day from infections and sepsis Some 1,000 to 1,500 Ukrainian fighters, marine infantrymen and soldiers of the nationalist Azov regiment, have entrenched themselves in the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol. They are demanding that the government in Kyiv and the international community work together to save them - either by diplomatic or military means. Russia claims, that there are 2,500 Ukrainian fighters and foreign mercenaries holed up in the steelworks. But, according to Ukraine, there is little hope for the soldiers in the besieged Azovstal plant in Mariupol to be freed by a military operation. The Ukrainian army command has dismissed reports that plans were underway to launch an offensive to free the fighters. The Ukrainian Deputy Chief of Staff Oleksiy Hromov said such an operation would require a significant number of troops. He added that at the moment his troops were some 150 kilometers from Mariupol and since the fall of the city, the Russians had built powerful defenses. Instead Ukraine suggested to Russia an exchange, involving seriously wounded fighters from inside Asovstal and Russian prisoners of war. "We would be taking our seriously injured soldiers from Azovstal along a humanitarian corridor," Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk wrote on Telegram. In return, Russian prisoners would be handed over under "standard prisoner exchange rules". However, there is no agreement yet. Negotiations are reported to be continuing. Some 600 of the men in the steelworks are thought to be wounded and in urgent need of medical attention. While the Russian military command has called for the Asovstal defenders to surrender, the Ukrainian government is seeking a diplomatic and humanitarian solution. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy suggested an extraction procedure whereby the defenders would be taken from the steel plant to a third country. He said, his government was in talks with Turkey, Israel and Sweden. The Ukrainian soldiers continue to refuse to surrender, fearing that death would await them in Russian captivity. Relatives of some of the soldiers trapped in the steelworks say that every day men are dying from pain, infections and sepsis. “The plant is not a hospital. No antibiotics or medicines are available. There are no anaesthetists. “Men are lying on the floor with open wounds.” 08 May 2022: From Mariupol ||| Ukrainian war diary ||| Europe welcomes Ukrainian refugees ||| German and Russian cities in time of war All civilians have left Mariupol steel plant From Mariupol (Mayor Vadym Boychenko) After being locked up for several weeks in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, it now seems that all civilians have left. According to official Ukrainian information, the last women, children and elderly people were able to leave the plant Saturday morning (7 May). "This part of the humanitarian operation in Mariupol has been completed," wrote Ukraine’s deputy prime minister in a Telegram post. It is not known how many Ukrainian fighters are still holding out in the steel plant. The Russian Ministry of Defense said this evening (6 May) that a total of 51 people had been rescued from Azovstal since last Thursday (5 May) - this completes the evacuation of all civilians. On Saturday (7 May) there was only one person left who was now safe. Earlier, the pro-Russian separatists fighting alongside Moscow announced the evacuation of 50 civilians. In other parts of Mariupol, where more than 400,000 people lived before the war, more people are said to be holding out. The most recent evacuation mission came about with the help of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Since Thursday (5 May), Russia's military had assured fire breaks of several hours every day in the completely destroyed city on the Azov Sea. The last one was supposed to end on Saturday night (7 April). 03/04 May 2022: From Mariupol ||| From Kherson ||| Ukrainian war diary ||| Europe welcomes Ukrainian refugees ||| German and Russian cities in time of war Russians renew attacks on Mariupol steel plant From Mariupol (Mayor Vadym Boychenko) Media in Ukraine have reported that Russian troops have begun a renewed attack on the Mariupol steel plant Azovstal. After heavy bombing during the night (2/3 May), the steel plant was now (3 May) being stormed, the deputy commander of the Ukrainian Azov regiment, Svyatoslav Palamar was quoted. Russian sources, meanwhile, claimed that Ukrainian fighters in the Azov plant had used the recent ceasefire to re-group and assume offensive positions. “These would now be attacked with artillery fire from the air.” In addition to Ukrainian fighters from the Azov regiment, it is thought that around 200 civilians are still stuck in the plant. Over the weekend (1/2 May), more than 120 people were rescued with international help. Most of them are now in Saporizhia, where they are receiving humanitarian and medical aid. However, another planned evacuation on Monday (2 May) failed. Mariupol was besieged shortly after the start of the Russian war of aggression on 24 February and is now in Russian hands.  Bucha, Irpin anjd Hostomelare just the tip of the iceberg From Mariupol (Mayor Vadym Boychenko) Following yesterday’s (2 May) limited evacuation of civilians from the embattled city of Mariupol, the aid organisation Doctors Without Borders said the humanitarian situation in the city was disastrous. "From the information we have so far, it can be said with certainty, it is a total catastrophe," the emergency coordinator for Ukraine, Anja Wolz, told German newspapers. According to her, the actual extent of human suffering in the besieged metropolis will only become fully apparent in the future. "I don't think we have any idea what we'll see there. Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel are just the tip of the iceberg," said Wolz. Hundreds of bodies were found in the cities of Bucha, Irpin, Borodyanka and Hostomel after Russian troops withdrew. According to Vadym Boychenko, the mayor of Mariupol, around 100,000 civilians are still holding out in the embattled Ukrainian port of Mariupol, which is now in Russian hands. In addition to Ukrainian fighters, more than 200 civilians were also still marooned in the Azovstal steelworks complex, the Mayor added. From Kherson (Mayor Ihor Kolykhaiev) Russia has switched internet traffic in the occupied Ukrainian region of Kherson to Russian communications infrastructure, according to the NetBlocks organisation. After a near-total internet blackout in the Kherson region, "connections would now be routed through the Russian internet instead of Ukraine's telecommunications infrastructure and are now likely to be subject to Russian internet regulations, surveillance and censorship," the London-based Cybersecurity and Internet Freedom Monitoring Organisation wrote on its website.  01 May 2022: From Kyiv Mayor Klitschko ||| Ukrainian war diary ||| Europe welcomes Ukrainian refugees ||| German and Russian cities in time of warMayor Vitali Klitschko: Kyiv is not a safe city From Kyiv (Mayor Vitali Klitschko) Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko has once again pleaded with fellow residents who have fled the city to stay away from the Ukrainian capital for the time being. While Ukrainian soldiers are doing everything, they can to shoot down Russian missiles, Kyiv is still not a safe city, the mayor said. "It's no secret that Kyiv was and is a target of the attackers," he warned. During the visit of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Kyiv was the target of Russian attacks. Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kiev, announced the attacks on various buildings throughout the city. “Yesterday (28 April), the UN General Secretary met the Russian President in Moscow, today he has to shelter from Putin’s bombs.” Since Russian forces pulled back in northern Ukraine, many residents have begun to return to Kyiv, even as sporadic missile attacks are still targeting the city. It remains full of roadblocks, some bridges remain impassable, and underground trains run only until the early evening to allow stations to serve as bomb shelters during regular air raid alerts. The mayor again called the war an act of genocide against Ukrainians who, after all, share so much history, culture and religion with their Russian neighbours. Talking to Bloomberg News, the Kyiv Mayor explained that with more than 200 buildings in the city damaged by shelling, it may take around $100 million to rebuild. He added that the exodus of businesses and people had already caused a $1 billion-$1.5 billion hit to the city’s budget.  24 April 2022: From Odessa ||| From Mariupol ||| From Lviv ||| Ukrainian war diary ||| Europe welcomes Ukrainian refugees ||| German and Russian cities in time of warRussian aggressors are targeting Odessa From Odessa (Mayor Gennadiy Trukhanov) According to a Ukrainian government spokesman, at least five people were killed and 18 others injured in Russian air raids on the southern Ukrainian port of Odessa after Russian Major General Rustam Minnekayev announced on Friday (22 April) that the goal of the ‘second phase’ of the war in Ukraine, which has now begun, is the conquest of the Donbass, in the east of the country and southern Ukraine. In addition to a land connection to the annexed Crimean peninsula, this would also enable better support for pro-Russian separatists in Transnistria in the Republic of Moldova, he said. It thus seems that Russia is also aiming to conquer Odessa in addition to taking the port city of Mariupol, which has been heavily contested for weeks. From Mariupol (Mayor Vadym Boychenko) Despite Russia’s assurance that there would be no new attacks on the heavily damaged Azov steel works outside Mariupol, Ukrainian sources reported renewed shelling. It is believed that some 1,000 civilians together with members of the Ukrainian Azov regiment are still inside the plant. On Thursday (21 April), Russian President Putin said that a storming of the steelworks would be given up for the time being and that a blockade would be set up instead. Meanwhile, a new attempt to evacuate civilians from Mariupol has failed, according to a spokesman of Mayor Boychenko. He said that the Russian military dispersed a group of 200 residents who were determined to flee and warned them of possible shelling. From Lviv (Mayor Andriy Sadovyi) The city authorities of the western Ukrainian City of Lviv have announced a night curfew over the Orthodox Easter holidays (23/24 April). A spokesman said that, unfortunately, the Russian enemy has no respect for the most important religious holiday in the Christian calendar, even though both countries share the same Orthodox religion. All churches in Lviv have postponed their Easter Vigil to the morning hours. 22 April 2022: From inside occupied Mariupol ||| Ukrainian war diary ||| Europe welcomes Ukrainian refugees ||| German and Russian cities in time of warMariupol mayor makes plea for civilians to be allowed to leave From Mariupol (Mayor Vadym Boychenko) The mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boychenko, has again urged that the city’s entire remaining civilian population to be allowed to leave the port city in southern Ukraine. Mariupol is now almost entirely in the hands of Russian forces. Around 100,000 people are still in the city, the Mayor said. Ukraine has also accused Russian troops of preventing civilians from leaving the besieged Mariupol steel mill Azovstal. "The Russians are afraid of storming the plant, but they are deliberately and cynically not letting any civilians out," Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told the Telegram messenger service. This should increase the pressure on the remaining Ukrainian soldiers in the plant to surrender. According to Vereshchuk, the defenders of the plant and Mariupol do not want to surrender. A Kyiv government spokesman said that around 1,000 civilians are said to be staying in the bunkers at the plant. It is thought that the majority of defenders of the plant are members of the Azov regiment, which Moscow accuses of being a far-right nationalist unit. While, according to Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies, Azov was founded in 2014 by a group of right-wing racists, it had since become "de-ideologised" and a regular fighting unit. It has been credited with re-capturing Mariupol following the Russian occupation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Russia has repeatedly accused the Azov regiment of using civilians as a shield. According to the Mariupol City Council, up to 9,000 people may have been buried in mass graves in the nearby town of Manhush. In a post on Telegram, the city council quoted Mayor Vadym Boychenko as saying that the Kyiv Holocaust memorial was a ‘new Babyn Yar’. "Back then, Hitler killed Jews, Roma and Slavs. And now the Russian are killing Ukrainians. He's already killed tens of thousands of civilians in Mariupol," Boychenko was quoted as saying. "This requires a determined response from the entire world. We must stop this genocide by any means possible." In the evening (21 April), Ukrainian media published satellite images that are said to show mass graves in Manhush. These are similar to those in Bucha near Kyiv, where hundreds of bodies were found after Russian soldiers withdrew. The Ukrainian information could not be verified independently. 21 April 2022: From EU parliament ||| From Mariupol ||| From eastern Ukraine cities ||| From Mykolaiv ||| From Kharkiv ||| Ukrainian war diary ||| Europe welcomes Ukrainian refugees ||| German and Russian cities in time of war Melitopol Mayor calls for weapons and warns of European war to come During a visit to the EU Parliament, Ivan Federov the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Melitopol, who was briefly kidnapped in mid-March, called for more weapons for Ukraine. "Ukrainian families don't think about comfort, they think about their survival and this has to stop, as soon as possible and with all the options like sanctions and weapons," said the Mayor. "We should be united to help our country win. War will also come to European countries and households." Melitopol is currently in Russian hands. The occupiers have installed a ‘governor’. From Mariupol (Mayor Vadym Boychenko) In the Ukrainian port of Mariupol, several buses carrying civilians have apparently left a designated evacuation point. Reuters news agency reported that dozens of people boarded buses and headed in a convoy towards Ukrainian-controlled territory. The authorities had previously said they wanted to bring about 6,000 people out through a corridor. Meanwhile in a dramatic appeal, the Ukrainian commander of the remaining marines in the heavily contested port city of Mariupol asked for an evacuation to a third country. "The enemy outnumbers us 10 to 1," Serhiy Volyna, commander of Ukraine's 36th Marine Brigade, said in a minute-long video message posted to Facebook on Wednesday (20 April). "We appeal to all world leaders to help us." Russia has advantages in the air, artillery, ground forces, equipment and tanks, Wolyna says. The Ukrainian side is defending only one object, the Azovstal Steel Works, where, in addition to the military, there are also civilians.  From cities in eastern UkraineAn Ukrainian military spokesman reported unsuccessful Russian attempts to storm the cities of Rubizhne and Sieverodonetsk in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk Oblast. "After attempts by Russian troops to storm Rubishne and Sievjerodonetsk, 130 injured enemy soldiers were taken to the local hospital in Novoaidar," he said. In addition, the Ukrainian military command reported Russian offensive efforts near the small town of Izyum in the Kharkov region and heavy fighting around Marjinka, Popasna, Torske, Selena Dolyna and Kreminna. The pro-Russian separatists had previously announced that they had taken control of Kreminna. From Mykolaiv (Mayor Olexander Senkevych) Shelling has been reported again from the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv. "Explosions in Mykolayiv again," the city's mayor, Olexander Senkevych, wrote on Telegram. He urged city residents to stay away from windows and stay in safe places. According to the Ukrainian news agency Unian, residents of the city also reported that fire had broken out in places. From Kharkiv (Mayor Ihor Terekhov) In the second largest Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, hundreds of people fled to safety from the Russian bombardment in the underground stations. There were about a hundred people in each station, mostly elderly and needy. At night there are up to three times as many. Kharkiv had about 1.8 million residents before the war. About 350,000 people are thought still to be living in the city. 19 April 2022: From Kreminna ||| From Mariupol ||| From Kyiv ||| Ukrainian war diary ||| Europe welcomes Ukrainian refugees ||| German and Russian cities in time of war Kreminna has fallen into Russian hands From Kreminna (Former mayor Volodymyr Stru*) In eastern Ukraine, Russian troops have taken control of the city of Kreminna, the regional government has confirmed. The city, which originally had more than 18,000 inhabitants, was today (19 April) attacked from all sides, said the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Gaidai. The Ukrainian forces had to pull back and have now secured new defensive potisionts. It is still impossible to estimate the exact number of civilian deaths, but the death toll could be as high as 200. *At the beginning of March Volodymyr Stru, the pro-Russian mayor of Kreminna, was kidnapped and killed by unknown assailants.  From Mariupol (Mayor Vadym Boychenko)According to pro-Russian separatists, the storming of the Azovstal steelworks in the embattled Ukrainian port of Mariupol has begun today (19 April). Russia claims there are still some 2,500 Ukrainian troops holed up in the steelworks, while the Ukrainian government says that around 1,000 civilians had sought shelter in the plant. “They include women and children.” Russia’s regional commander has called on the remaining Ukrainian troops in Mariupol to surrender to avoid further bloodshed. Russian officials gave a deadline of today (19 April), noon, Moscow time for the Ukrainian defenders to lay down their weapons and leave the area. From Kyiv (Mayor Vitali Klitschko) Mayor Vitali Klitschko warned on Tuesday (19 April) that the Ukrainian capital Kyiv was again threatened by Russian attacks. "Kyiv was and remains a target of the aggressor," Klitschko said in a Telegram post. He urged the residents of Kyiv who had fled not to return. "Based on the military data and the latest developments, must assume that Kyiv is still threatened by rocket attacks," said the Mayor.Mayor  16 April 2022: Ukrainian war diary ||| Europe welcomes Ukrainian refugees ||| German and Russian cities in time of warFrom Kyiv (Mayor Vitali Klitschko) Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko has reported that the Ukrainian capital city was again the target of Russian shelling. There were several explosions in the Darnytsia district, Mayor Klitschko said on a Telegram news channel. The targeted quarter is in the south-east of the metropolis. At least one person was killed in the attack and several were injured. The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the renewed shelling of Kyiv. A ministry spokesman said production facilities at a tank factory had been destroyed. In view of the situation in Kyiv, which is getting worse, Mayor Klitschko appealed to the population not to ignore the authorities' air alert. In the Ukrainian capital there are air raid alarms several times a day. Mayor Klitschko also appealed to residents, who had left the city, not to return. “At the moment, Kyiv is not a safe place.” From Kharkiv (Mayor Ihor Terekhov) Attacks by Russian forces are also increasing in eastern and southern Ukraine. According to Ukrainian sources, at least ten people were killed when the industrial district of the eastern Ukrainian metropolis of Kharkiv was shelled. A seven-month-old baby was among the victims, the mayor’s office said on Friday (15 April). At least 35 people were injured. Several residential buildings in the district on the eastern outskirts were also damaged or destroyed, a city spokesman said. From Oleksandriya (Mayor Serhiy Kuzmenko) The authorities of the city of Oleksandriya (in the Kirovohrad region of central Ukraine) also reported a Russian airstrike on an airfield in the city. Rescue work was underway, Mayor Serhiy Kuzmenko wrote on Facebook.  11 April 2022: From Kramatorsk ||| War crimes in Irpin ||| Amnesty International ||| From Borodyanka ||| WHO ||| From Dnipro ||| From Hostomel ||| Ukrainian war diary ||| Europe welcomes Ukrainian refugees ||| German and Russian cities in time of warKramatorsk Mayor: Russians are targeting civilians to create fear From Kramatorsk (Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko) The evacuation of residents from Kramatorsk is continuing despite Russia’s attack on the town’s railway station on Friday (8 April). Mayor Oleksandr Honcharenko said buses and private vehicles are being used to ferry women, children and elderly people to the nearby town of Sloviansk, where they will be able to board trains. But the Mayor acknowledged that, with the station still closed and not expected to open until late on Sunday (10 April) or Monday, the evacuation has slowed down. On Saturday (9 April) less than 400 people were able to board buses, Mayor Honcharenko said. He believes that about a quarter of the 200,000 residents will remain in the town despite an expected Russian advance. “The city is stockpiling food, water and medical supplies.” The Russian missile attack on Kramatorsk railway station killed 52 people, five of them children. Western observers do not believe that Moscow’s forces were unaware the station was packed with civilians seeking to flee eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian government is convinced that Russian troops are now so desperate that they target the civilian population. “They are hitting the most vulnerable people to make up for their failures on the battle grounds.  Irpin mayor accuses Russiaof unspeakable war crimes From Irpin (Mayor Olexander Markuschyn) After the Russian’s withdrawal from Irpin, the town’s mayor, Olexander Markuschyn, accused Russia of unspeakabke war crimes. In the Kiev suburb, Russian troops separated the men from the women and children, Olexander Markuschyn said, according to the newspaper Ukrajinska Pravda. “They shot civilians they didn't like – and these are facts, there are witnesses. They shot those who disobeyed,” Mayor Markuschyn said. The dead were then deliberately run over by tanks. "We scraped the bodies off the asphalt with shovels." Markuschyn said the Russian soldiers also raped women. "The Russian invaders not only killed and humiliated women, but also mercilessly robbed the homes of the Irpinians," the mayor said. Everything was stolen – from washing machines to underwear.” Amnesty International calls Bucha the tip of the iceberg Amnesty International, the human rights organisation, has described the events in Bucha as the tip of the iceberg. The organisation spoke to eyewitnesses who reported that Russian troops repeatedly shot civilians in the street or in their homes. “In one case a woman was raped after her husband was killed,” said one eyewitness. "The shocking images from Bucha are obviously just the tip of the iceberg of cruelty and brutality," said Janine Uhlmannsiek, Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia researcher in Germany. According to a report by the German press agency DPA, an Amnesty team spoke to more than 20 people from places near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in the past few weeks who had witnessed Russian acts of violence or had direct knowledge of the acts of violence. All cases have been "cross-checked" and the statements have been confirmed by other sources, said an Amnesty spokesman. From Borodyanka After the withdrawal of Russian forces from northern Ukraine, rescue workers found 26 bodies in the rubble of two burnt-out buildings in Borodyanka, a small town north of Kyiv. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, after having talked to rescue workers, that the situation in Borodyanka was much worse than in Bucha, where hundreds of bodies of residents were found on the streets after Russian troops withdrew. According to a spokesperson from the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office there were also confirmed cases of sexual violence in Borodyanka. From Hostomel According to Ukrainian sources apparently eleven bodies were found in a garage in the Kiev suburb of Hostomel. The police discovered them on Wednesday (6 April), reported the Ukrainian Internet newspaper Ukrajinska Pravda. According to the report, the dead are civilians. They are believed to have been killed by Russian soldiers. The information could not be independently verified. Hostomel, north-west of the capital Kyiv with the nearby airfield, had been heavily contested since the beginning of the war. Most of the original 16,000 residents fled. A few days ago, Ukrainian troops regained control of Hostomel, as well as the neighboring towns of Bucha and Irpin. Earlier, the head of the local military administration said that around 400 residents of Hostomel were missing and that the authorities were searching the basements and cellars of the town’s buildings. Ukrainian mayors' war diaries
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