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THe Hill

Senate advances $40 billion Ukraine aid package

Alexander Bolton – May 16, 2022

The Senate on Monday overwhelmingly advanced a $40 billion Ukraine aid package that easily passed the House last week but had stalled in the upper chamber because of an objection from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.).

Senators voted 81 to 11 to end debate on a motion to proceed to the legislation, setting up a final vote on the bill for later in the week.

It’s an important test of Republican support for continued U.S. humanitarian and military assistance for Ukraine after several prominent Republican voices, including former President Trump, questioned the size of the $40 billion package.

Some Republicans, including Sen. Bill Hagerty (Tenn.), announced before the vote that they would not support it.

“I certainly don’t have anything against the Ukrainians. We want to see them win, but pumping more aid into that country when we’re not taking care of our own country — the best thing that [President] Biden could do is stop the war that he’s waged on American industry,” Hagerty told Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” over the weekend.

Hagerty said, “I know that there are other senators that are thinking very hard about this right now.”

Trump issued a statement Friday criticizing Congress for moving an aid package for Ukraine at a time when parents in the U.S. are having trouble finding baby formula on store shelves due to a shortage of supplies.

“The Democrats are sending another $40 billion to Ukraine, yet America’s parents are struggling to even feed their children,” Trump said in a statement through his Save America PAC.

The assistance package passed with a large majority in the House by a vote of 368 to 57. Republicans made up all of the “no” votes.

The legislation had been somewhat delayed by debate among Democrats over whether to attach $10 billion in additional COVID-19 funding.

Democratic leaders, however, eventually decided to move the Ukrainian money separately to prevent it from getting held up by a partisan battle to attach an amendment to limit asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border to the coronavirus relief money.

In a conference call with reporters Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said the assistance package could pass the Senate by Wednesday. But there are several procedural hurdles remaining, and getting it done in the next few days will depend on getting cooperation from all 100 senators.

Paul, a frequent critic of foreign aid, delayed the package last week by insisting on adding language to expand the role of the Afghanistan inspector general to have oversight of Ukrainian assistance spending.

HuffPost

11 Republican Senators Vote Against $40 Billion In Security Assistance For Ukraine

Igor Bobic – May 16, 2022

Eleven Republican senators bucked their leadership and voted against a motion advancing a $40 billion security assistance package for Ukraine on Monday, a sign of growing GOP opposition to U.S. efforts aimed at countering Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bloody three-month-old invasion there.

The security package isn’t expected to pass until later this week because a single Republican senator, Rand Paul of Kentucky, is objecting to a quick vote on the measure.

Paul has demanded the legislation give an inspector general authority to oversee spending, which he called unprecedented and fiscally unsound. But Democrats said that would require a re-vote in the House and burn precious time given Russia’s daily bombing of Ukrainian cities that is causing horrifying scenes of death and devastation.

In his floor speech earlier Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) slammed Paul’s efforts to delay passage of the bill as “totally unacceptable,” saying that it “only serves to strengthen Putin’s hand in the long run.”

Oleksandra Ustinova, a member of Ukraine’s parliament, lamented that the delay would cost lives in a message posted on Twitter:

Ten other Republican senators joined Paul in voting against the motion to advance the security package on Monday; many of these senators made supportive statements about Ukraine’s plight following Russia’s invasion:

Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.)
John Boozman (Ark.)
Mike Braun (Ind.)
Mike Crapo (Idaho)
Bill Hagerty (Tenn.)
Josh Hawley (Mo.)
Mike Lee (Utah)
Roger Marshall (Kan.)
Tommy Tuberville (Ala.)

The list of lawmakers hindering aid to Ukraine has been steadily rising over the past month. Last week, 57 Republicans voted against the Ukraine assistance bill in the House. Two months ago, only three GOP House members voted against a separate security package.

Supporters of former President Donald Trump and right-wing pundits, including Fox News host Tucker Carlson, have ramped up rhetoric against U.S. support for Ukraine aid. Trump also called into question the spending measure last week, linking it to the shortage of baby formula that has been attributed to a safety recall and supply chain issues.

“The Democrats are sending another $40 billion to Ukraine, yet America’s parents are struggling to even feed their children,” Trump said in a statement released by his super PAC.

Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.) argued that spending $40 billion on Ukraine is “not in America’s interests,” adding on Twitter that it “allows Europe to freeload, neglects priorities at home (the border), allows Europe to freeload, short changes critical interests abroad and comes w/ no meaningful oversight.”

But Sen. Rick Scott (Fla.), a deficit hawk and, like Hawley, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, voted in support of the bill. The top Trump ally called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “a threat to our national security and the security of our democratic allies.” He added: “America must always protect our interests and support democracy over tyranny.”

Monday’s vote to advance the Ukraine package came on the heels of a trip to Kyiv by Senate Republican leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.). After meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, McConnell told reporters he assured him “that support for Ukraine and this war against the Russians is bipartisan,” including from “an overwhelming majority of Republicans.”

McConnell also addressed the opposition to Ukraine aid from the Trump wing of his party in a statement released after the trip.

“Ukraine is not asking anybody else to fight their fight,” he said. “They only ask for the tools they need for self-defense.”

“America’s support for Ukraine’s self-defense is not mere philanthropy,” he added. “Defending the principle of sovereignty, promoting stability in Europe, and imposing costs on Russia’s naked aggression have a direct and vital bearing on America’s national security and vital interests.”

Insider

Christopher Steele, the spy behind the discredited ‘pee tape’ Trump dossier, says sources tell him Putin is seriously ill

Mia Jankowicz – May 16, 2022

• The former British spy Christopher Steele told Sky News that his sources say Putin is very ill.
• “It’s part of the equation” in Putin’s decision-making in Ukraine, Steele said.
• Steele compiled the infamous Trump-Russia dossier, much of which has been discredited.

The former British spy who wrote an infamous dossier about Donald Trump’s dealings in Russia told Sky News on Sunday that sources had told him that Russian President Vladimir Putin is seriously ill.

Christopher Steele, who led MI6’s Russia desk and worked as a spy in Moscow for years, told Sky News: “Certainly, from what we’re hearing from sources in Russia and elsewhere, is that Putin is, in fact, quite seriously ill.”

Claims about the 69-year-old leader’s health have circulated for months. On Saturday, Ukraine’s head of military intelligence, Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, told Sky that Putin is in a “very bad psychological and physical condition and he is very sick.”

Budanov went on to suggest that the purported illness had incited plans within Russia for a coup.

In his interview with Sky, Steele suggested that Putin’s health is “an element” of his decision-making in Ukraine.

“It’s not clear exactly what this illness is — whether it’s incurable or terminal, or whatever,” he said. “But certainly, I think it’s part of the equation.”

On Thursday, New Lines Magazine said it had obtained a recording of a Russian oligarch saying Putin is “very ill with blood cancer.” New Lines said it verified the oligarch’s identity but was unable to authenticate the claims in the recording.

It is all but impossible to confirm rumors about Putin’s health, which describe a panoply of ailments. The Russian investigative news outlet Proekt said in early April that the leader had received dozens of visits from a thyroid-cancer specialist.

In early May, a former KGB agent, Boris Karpichkov, told The Sun, without citing sources, that “there is a serious concern that Putin is suffering from” ailments including dementia and Parkinson’s disease.

The Sun’s report followed weeks of tabloid speculation over the leader’s appearance, including images of him appearing to steady himself while seated in a meeting with his defense minister.

Steele is the author of an intelligence dossier that made multiple claims about Trump, including that there exists a so-called pee tape of obscene material involving Trump in Russia before his political career.

No evidence of the tape has been found, and other aspects of the dossier’s credibility have been questioned, CNN reported.

Steele worked under diplomatic cover as a spy in Moscow for three years in the ’90s, and he was the chief of MI6’s Russia desk from 2006 to 2009.

Business Insider

Ukrainian forces completed a ‘combat mission’ in Mariupol after hundreds were evacuated

Hannah Getahun – May 16, 2022

• Ukrainian forces said they “fulfilled their combat mission” in Mariupol on Tuesday.
• They have begun to evacuate to “save the lives of their personnel.”
• 53 soldiers were transported to a hospital and another 211 were evacuated via humanitarian corridor.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said Tuesday that a garrison stationed in Mariupol has “fulfilled its combat mission” and began to evacuate.

This likely signals the end of a mission to defend the Azovstal steel plant, which served as a stronghold for Ukrainian troops in the besieged city of Mariupol.

“The Supreme Military Command ordered the commanders of the units stationed at Azovstal to save the lives of their personnel,” according to a statement.

According to defense officials, 53 wounded troops were transported to a hospital in Novoazovsk, while another 211 were evacuated through a humanitarian corridor to Olenivka. They may be subject to a prisoner exchange between Russian troops, the statement said.

Ukrainian forces had recently begun evacuations of civilians at the Azovstal steel plant, where hundreds of Ukrainian civilians and troops bunkered down for months.

“Defenders of Mariupol are the heroes of our time,” the statement said. “They are forever in history.”

Reuters

Ukrainian troops evacuate from Mariupol, ceding control to Russia

Natalia Zinets – May 16, 2022

KYIV/NOVOAZOVSK, Ukraine (Reuters) -Ukraine’s military said on Tuesday it was working to evacuate all remaining troops from their last stronghold in the besieged port of Mariupol, ceding control of the city to Russia after months of bombardment.

The evacuation of hundreds of fighters, many wounded, to Russian-held towns, likely marked the end of the longest and bloodiest battle of the Ukraine war and a significant defeat for Ukraine. Mariupol is now in ruins after a Russian siege that Ukraine says killed tens of thousands of people in the city.

With the rest of Mariupol firmly in Russian hands, hundreds of Ukrainian troops and civilians had holed up beneath the city’s Azovstal steelworks. Civilians inside were evacuated in recent weeks, and more than 260 troops, some of them wounded, left the plant for Russian-controlled areas late on Monday.

“The ‘Mariupol’ garrison has fulfilled its combat mission,” the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said in a statement.

“The supreme military command ordered the commanders of the units stationed at Azovstal to save the lives of the personnel… Defenders of Mariupol are the heroes of our time,” it added.

Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Anna Malyar said 53 injured troops from steelworks were taken to a hospital in the Russian-controlled town of Novoazovsk, some 32 km (20 miles) to the east, while another 211 people were taken to the town of Olenivka, in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatists.

All of the evacuees will be subject to a potential prisoner exchange with Russia, she added.

Some 600 troops were believed to have been inside the steel plant. Ukraine’s military said efforts were under way to evacuate those still inside.

“We hope that we will be able to save the lives of our guys,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an early morning address. “There are severely wounded ones among them. They’re receiving care. Ukraine needs Ukrainian heroes alive.”

Reuters saw five buses carrying troops from Azovstal arrive in Novoazovsk late on Monday. In one, marked with Z – a symbol for Russia’s invasion – men were stacked on stretchers on three levels. One man was wheeled out, his head tightly wrapped in thick bandages.

LVIV EXPLOSIONS, KHARKIV FIGHTING

Moscow calls its nearly three-month-old invasion a “special military operation” to rid Ukraine of fascists, an assertion Kyiv and its Western allies say is a baseless pretext for an unprovoked war.

Russia’s invading forces have run into apparent setbacks, with troops forced out of the north and the environs of Kyiv in late March. A Ukrainian counterattack in recent days has driven Russian forces out of the area near Kharkiv, the biggest city in the east.

Areas around Kyiv and the western city of Lviv, near the Polish border, have continued to come under Russian attack. A series of explosions struck Lviv early on Tuesday, a Reuters witness said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

On Monday, Ukraine’s defence ministry said troops had advanced all the way to the Russian border, about 40 km north of Kharkiv.

The successes near Kharkiv could let Ukraine attack supply lines for Russia’s main offensive, grinding on further south in the Donbas region, where Moscow has been launching mass assaults for a month yet achieving only small gains.

PUTIN CLIMBDOWN OVER NATO

Russia has faced massive sanctions for its actions in Ukraine, but EU foreign ministers failed to pressure Hungary to lift its veto of a proposed oil embargo.

McDonald’s Corp on Monday became one of the biggest global brands to exit Russia, laying out plans to sell all its restaurants after operating in the country for more than 30 years.

Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared on Monday to climb down from threats to retaliate against Sweden and Finland for announcing plans to join the U.S.-led NATO military alliance.

“As far as expansion goes, including new members Finland and Sweden, Russia has no problems with these states – none. And so in this sense there is no immediate threat to Russia from an expansion to include these countries,” Putin said.

The comments appeared to mark a major shift in rhetoric, after years of casting NATO enlargement as a direct threat to Russia’s security, including citing it as a justification for the invasion of Ukraine itself.

Putin said NATO enlargement was being used by the United States in an “aggressive” way to aggravate an already difficult global security situation, and that Russia would respond if the alliance moves weapons or troops forward.

“The expansion of military infrastructure into this territory would certainly provoke our response. What that (response) will be – we will see what threats are created for us,” Putin said.

Finland and Sweden, both non-aligned throughout the Cold War, say they now want the protection offered by NATO’s treaty, under which an attack on any member is an attack on all.

“We are leaving one era behind us and entering a new one,” Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets in Kyiv and a Reuters journalist in Novoazovsk; Additional reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Rami Ayyub and Lincoln Feast; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Stephen Coates)

Daily Beast

Russian Allies Get Tongue-Lashing at Putin’s Ultimate Pity Party

Shannon Vavra – May 16, 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted a meeting of the Russian-led military alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), on Monday on the 30th anniversary of its founding—but the meeting was anything but celebratory.

Instead, the heads of state from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, which make up the collective defense organization, akin to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, went to the Kremlin Monday in Moscow to lament the world’s response to Putin’s war in Ukraine.

Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, sitting in a massive room with sweeping high ceilings and ornate, gold-covered walls, whined about “hellish” sanctions from the West and efforts to isolate Russia and Belarus—which has been supporting Putin’s military moves in Ukraine—from the rest of the world.

“Belarus and Russia… are being defamed and excluded from international organizations at the whim of the West,” Lukashenko said.

In a joint statement, the CSTO also stated that it is concerned about “external borders of the CSTO,” noting that they maintain “readiness to ensure the security of the borders.”

Top U.S. Spy Spills on Putin’s ‘Drastic’ Secret Plan to Win War

But Lukashenko complained that the members of the alliance haven’t been banding behind Russia as much as they should, especially as Russia works to address NATO’s expansion, a common argument Russian officials and allies have been using to justify the war in Ukraine. In a likely reference to Finland and Sweden expressing interest in joining NATO, Lukashenko called for more support as NATO’s threats continue, from “NATO saber-rattling near our western borders to a full-scale hybrid war unleashed against us,” according to Interfax.

“Russia should not fight alone against the expansion of NATO,” he said.

Putin himself complained about a “surge in frenzied Russophobia in the so-called civilized and politically correct Western countries,” and promised the expansion of NATO would “certainly evoke a response on our part. We will see what it will be like based on the threats that are created for us.”

Putin also demanded that his counterparts do more for Russia in the future, citing what he claimed was “documentary evidence” found during the invasion in Ukraine that he said allegedly shows that “components of biological weapons were developed in close proximity to our borders.”

To respond to those alleged biological weapons threats—threats Putin has said Russia has faced for some time—Putin rallied CSTO members during the meeting to agree to demonstrate their combined military might by running joint CSTO exercises this fall in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

“Efforts to maintain biological security also require the most serious attention,” he said.

Putin also seemed to be pushing his counterparts to prop up his bogus justification for conducting the “special” military operation in Ukraine—to denazify the country.

“I would like to highlight our priority task of jointly defending the memory of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the feat of our peoples who saved the world from Nazism at the cost of enormous and irreparable sacrifices, and to counteract any attempts to whitewash the Nazis, their accomplices and modern followers,” Putin said, noting that he thinks Ukrainians are glorifying Nazis at the state level.

After the summit, the group noted in a statement that other countries have been critical of Russia’s false claim that it invaded Ukraine to try to denazify the country, insisting that it is indeed the aim of the war, rather than a false pretense to invade.

We “strongly condemn any attempts to falsify historical events related to our common contribution to countering Nazi aggression,” the CSTO said in a statement. “We express serious concern in connection with attempts to ban symbols associated with the Victory over Nazism.”

The Putin-centric pity party comes as Russia’s war in Ukraine enters its 82nd day, with no end in sight—the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency assessed last week the war, which has shifted to the east of Ukraine, has nearly reached a “stalemate.”

Putin’s military continues to flounder in Ukraine. As of Monday, Russian forces have lost 27,700 troops, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in an analysis Monday.

But even though the fighting is reaching a protracted state, the Biden administration is still focused on providing security assistance to Ukraine to help thwart Russian attacks. The administration has already provided $300 million in security assistance to Ukraine just this fiscal year, with more expected soon.

‘Let Someone Whack You’: Russian Troops Are Now Deliberately Wounding Themselves to Get Out of Putin’s War

Putin’s CSTO pity party bemoaned the west’s military assistance to Ukraine, which the U.S. Defense Department has assessed has helped the Ukrainians’ resistance to Russian advances in the war.

“So far, in the West, including in Washington, we see only a desire to prolong the conflict as much as possible,” Lukashenko said, referring to military aid. “The goals are clear: to weaken Russia as much as possible.”

Nonetheless, the aid is set to keep flowing. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed other weapons and security assistance during a meeting this weekend in Berlin with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. And later this week, the Senate is expected to vote on $40 billion of aid to Ukraine, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said Saturday.

The New Voice of Ukraine

Russia cannibalizes naval crews to replenish marine brigade, Ukrainian General Staff says

May 15, 2022

Read also: Russia hits Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in Ukraine with rockets

Meanwhile, in the north, the Russian military is reinforcing the border with Ukraine in Bryansk and Kursk regions, are is carrying out air and artillery strikes on Ukraine’s Chernihiv and Sumy oblasts.

Near Kharkiv, the invaders are not engaged in hostilities, and remain focused on regrouping and replenishing their ammunition and fuel reserves.

Read also: Nine Russian attempts to cross river in Donbas thwarted by Ukrainian paratroopers

Near Slovyansk, Russian attacks against the defending Ukrainian troops were unsuccessful. The Kremlin continues to regroup there, preparing for a renewed push towards Barvinkove and Slovyansk.

Read also: Ukraine’s General Staff says Russia preparing layered defense in Zaporizhzhya direction

Near Bakhmut, the enemy continues to advance towards Lyman, Severodonetsk, Avdiivka, and Kurakhiv, despite sustaining heavy losses.

The Ukrainian redoubt in Mariupol, the Azovstal steel mill, remains under siege, and is under heavy bombardment.

Overall, Ukrainian forces repelled 12 attempted Russian attacks in the Donbas in the last 24 hours, the General Staff said.

The Herald – Mail

American technology has penetrated every level of Russia in efforts to stop Putin

Tim Rowland – May 15, 2022

For us laypeople, the most useful rule in matters of foreign policy is the old saw, “Those who talk don’t know, and those who know don’t talk.”

That is as true for the retired generals on cable news as it is for the 20-somethings Ivy League grads who are experts because they once visited Poland. And, obviously, it is triply true of newspaper columnists.

But it is a matter of human nature, not foreign affairs, to guess with a relative degree of certainty that when Vladimir Putin isn’t thinking about the battle in Ukraine in 2022, he is thinking about the battle for the American presidency in 2024.

This is where he will extract his revenge for President Biden’s meddling, channeling money to the Republican Party and ginning up the old social media machine to pepper Americans’ feeds with lies and culture-war napalm.

That he blames America for his own failures is hardly surprising. What does surprise, is that so many Americans stand ready to blame America for Russian failure.

Or maybe it shouldn’t surprise, considering this new national psyche of ours that seems intent on experiencing the hangover without attending the party.

You expect the right to go after the Biden administration’s victorious trash talk, but the hand-wringing has extended to the American left as well, for reasons only the American left could dream up. The main line of thought is that a weakened Putin is a more dangerous Putin. There’s also a fear that we are becoming too deeply intertwined in the fight.

OK fine, valid concerns. So let’s ask this: When has appeasement of a bloodthirsty autocrat worked? Ever? Those who fret that Putin might get mad at us ought to consider that he certainly respects us more now than he would have if we had remained on the sidelines. He may hate us, but he hated us before — his backing of Donald Trump isn’t for a love of Trump, but for a logical conclusion that Trump is capable of doing America the most damage.

Putin is a better fighter in the shadowy world of propaganda and deceit than he is on an actual battlefield, so quite honestly, he has a better shot at the 2024 presidential election than he does in his own backyard.

So we shouldn’t “fear” a weakened Russia, as the liberals say, we should welcome it. If Trump or a Trump clone wins the White House, we want Russia to be too compromised to take advantage.

Today, for every bomb Russia drops on Ukraine, it is dropping two on itself. The economic sanctions that Putin has brought on himself have not even begun to have their full effect, and contrary to the respect Putin craves, he has turned the Motherland into a leper colony. All the smartest people are leaving. Technological advancement has been crippled, perhaps for decades.

That’s good. Our best interest lies in Russia being a Humpty Dumpty that not even a Trumpist can put back together again.

But beyond all this, what on God’s green earth is wrong with winning? We’re not just winning, we are crushing — and all anyone wants to do is apologize for it. Biden was reportedly “furious” at leaks of gloating coming from his administration.

No, boss, I guarantee that was nothing of the sort. That was just a statement pumped to the press to take the edge off the critics. In reality, Biden loves rubbing dirt in Putin’s face, and he loves anyone who points out that’s exactly what we’re doing.

Our weapons are flying circles around his. Putin is forced to make do with technology that America left in the dust 40 years ago. The references to “Soviet era” weaponry is code for points and distributor caps, hand-held compasses and bombs that became obsolete in the years following World War II. Putin’s vaunted military machine is all smoke and mirrors, all Putin specialties: propaganda, bluster and lies. He’s been exposed, and we are the ones who have pulled down his pants.

What really must spook the P-dog is that our technology has quite clearly penetrated every inch of Russia, from the top level of the Kremlin down to the lowliest tank crew. We know what they’re going to do before they do.

Our capabilities have stunned not just Russia, but China as well, which has been conspicuously quiet. Tell me that President Xi isn’t worried sick about what we know.

America has regained the international luster lost during the Trump years. We have led the world, orchestrating a united response and teamed with Ukraine and the world to beat down a brute.

We seem worried about this. Like it’s too good to be true, and certainly another shoe will drop. Maybe it will. But that is for tomorrow. Today it should just feel good to be winning so convincingly.

Tim Rowland is a Herald-Mail columnist.

Reuters

Burning munitions cascade down on Ukrainian steel plant – video

May 15, 2022

LONDON (Reuters) – White brightly burning munitions were shown cascading down on the Azovstal steel works in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol in what a British military expert said looked like either an attack with phosphorus or incendiary weapons.

Reuters was not able to immediately identify the type of munitions being used or when the video was taken. It was posted on Sunday on the Telegram messaging application by Alexander Khodakovsky, a commander of the pro-Russian self-proclaimed republic of Donetsk.

“If you didn’t know what it is and for what purpose – you could say that it’s even beautiful,” Khodakovsky said in a message beside the video. Khodakovsky could not be immediately reached for comment.

It was not immediately clear which forces had fired the munitions, or from where.

Russian forces have pummeled Mariupol for nearly two months, but some Ukrainian fighters remain holed up in the vast Soviet-era plant founded under Josef Stalin and designed with a labyrinth of bunkers and tunnels to withstand attack.

Russia has not commented on what specific weapons it has used to attack the plant. The Russian defence ministry did not reply to a written request for comment about the video.

Ukraine’s armed forces declined immediate comment.

White phosphorus munitions can be used on battlefields to make smoke screens, generate illumination, mark targets or burn bunkers and buildings. White phosphorus is not banned as a chemical weapon under international conventions.

Human rights groups have urged a ban on the use of phosphorus munitions because of the severe burns they cause. The United States used phosphorus munitions in the Vietnam war and the 2003-2011 Iraq war. Russia used them in the Chechen wars.

Petro Andryushchenko, an aide to Mariupol’s mayor, said that Russia had used incendiary or phosphorous bombs on Azovstal. Andryushchenko was speaking from Ukrainian-controlled territory. Reuters was unable to immediately verify his comments.

Hamish Stephen de Bretton-Gordon, a former commanding officer of Britain’s Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment, said it looked very like phosphorus in the video, but only a sample could give absolute confirmation.

“It does look very much like white phosphorus rockets or artillery shells which are exploding just above the ground or upon the ground,” he told Reuters.

“It could possibly be Russian incendiary rockets as well but I have certainly seen a lot of white phosphorus in particularly Syria and it looks very much like that to me,” he said.

While some Ukrainian fighters are still in bunkers at the steel plant, civilians have been evacuated.

(Additional reporting by Tom Balmforth in Kyiv; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by David Clarke)