INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Ukrainian authorities said a rescue mission to extract the last defenders of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol was under way on Tuesday,
after hundreds of soldiers were evacuated in an earlier operation.The factory complex had become a symbol of resistance, with around 600
soldiers holed up in underground tunnels and bunkers fighting a rear-guard battle to prevent Russian troops taking full control of the
strategically located port city.On Monday more than 260 fighters were evacuated through humanitarian corridors to areas under Russian and
Moscow-backed separatists' control, with Ukraine's defense ministry saying a further "exchange procedure" would take place later."As for the
defenders who still remain on the territory of Azovstal, all necessary rescue measures are being taken by our state," the ministry said in a
receive assistance from allies," it added.The Ukrainian army said in a Facebook statement that holding the steelworks had delayed the
transfer of 20,000 Russian troops to other parts of Ukraine, and stopped Moscow from quickly capturing the southern city of
Zaporizhzhia.Despite the resources of its giant neighbor, Ukraine has managed to repel the Russian army for longer than many expected,
fortified by weapons and cash from Western allies.The latest example of this came Monday, when Ukraine's defence ministry announced its
troops had regained control of territory on the Russian border near the country's second-largest city of Kharkiv.The area has been under
constant attack, and Kyiv's gains have come at a high cost, with villages gutted and destroyed by bombs.Trembling, Rostislav Stepanenko
struggled to light a cigarette as he recounted to AFP how he survived shelling in his village, caught in the firing line between Russian and
Ukrainian forces just north of Kharkiv.He had gone back to collect some belongings but returned empty-handed and stunned by the incessant
artillery fire.The 53-year-old joked that his profession was "trying to stay alive."'Shelling without stopping'Ukrainian officials say that
Russian troops are withdrawing from around Kharkiv and being transferred to Donbas, an eastern area near the Russian border which has become
Moscow's new military focus."The armed forces of Ukraine are repelling constant attacks in those areas where Russia is still trying to
advance," President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address."Severodonetsk and other cities in Donbas remain the main targets for the
occupiers."Taking Severodonetsk, the easternmost city held by Ukraine, would grant the Kremlin de facto control of Lugansk, one of two
stopping," and early Tuesday he said two buildings of the city's general hospital had been hit overnight."We have ten dead and three wounded
bridges were blown up, Ukrainian officials said.Russian shelling continued across the whole country overnight, with air sirens heard
throughout Ukraine in the early hours of Tuesday.In the western city of Lviv, an official from the Regional Military Administration said a
military infrastructure facility "almost on the border with Poland" had been hit.The army's southern operational command said Odessa and
months into its invasion, Finland and Sweden are poised to give up decades of military non-alignment by joining the NATO military
than comments earlier Monday from Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, who had called the expansion a "grave mistake with far-reaching
consequences."The move is not a done deal in any case, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday confirming his country's
intention to block the applications, accusing Finland and Sweden of harboring terror groups, including outlawed Kurdish militants.Any
membership bid must be unanimously approved by NATO's 30 nations.But U.S
Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced confidence Sunday that Sweden and Finland would join NATO despite Turkey's opposition.Turkish
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu will meet Blinken in Washington on Wednesday, where Ankara's objections are expected to figure high on the
agenda.'Time is running out'European Union foreign ministers met Monday to discuss their own attempt to up the pressure on Russia by
are unhappy with the fact that the oil embargo is not there," Ukraine's top diplomat Dmytro Kuleba said afterwards."It's clear who's holding
But time is running out because every day Russia keeps making money and investing this money into the war."The war meanwhile is taking its
toll on the continent's growth
The European Commission sharply cut its eurozone forecast for 2022 to 2.7%, blaming skyrocketing energy prices.Separately, French automaker
Renault has handed over its Russian assets to Moscow, while U.S
fast food giant McDonald's announced it would be pulling out, citing the "humanitarian crisis caused by the war."
