1. Totally 80 civilians left Azovstal plant via a humanitarian corridor

Thanks to the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin Russian and the DPR troops managed to rescue 80 civilians, including women and children, held by Ukrainian nationalists from the territory of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol. Units of the Russian Armed Forces and the People's Militia of the Donetsk People's Republic provided a "regime of silence" and opened a humanitarian corridor for the safe evacuation of civilians and

The released civilians were evacuated to the settlement of Bezymennoye of the Donetsk People's Republic, where they were provided with overnight accommodation, food and the necessary medical care.

Civilians evacuated by Russian servicemen from the Azovstal plant who wished to leave for areas controlled by the Kiev regime were handed over to representatives of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The rest went to Donbass.

A video released by the military on May 1st shows people leaving in buses marked with the ‘Z’ symbol. Ambulances can also be seen.

2. Over 77,000 Germans sign petition not to supply heavy weaponry to Kiev

BERLIN, May 1. /TASS/. A petition to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, requesting him not to supply heavy weaponry to Ukraine, gathered more than 77,000 signatures as of late April 30^th.

About 30 culture and art figures, including journalists, musicians and actors, have sent an open letter to Scholz, asking him not to supply heavy weaponry to Kiev. The full text was published by the Emma magazine.

The signatories ask the German premier not to send heavy weaponry to the Ukrainian military, because this can eventually trigger the third world war. At the same time, they declare support to the premier’s efforts aimed at preventing the events in Ukraine from evolving into a new global conflict. "That is why we hope that you will recollect your initial stance and will not supply any more heavy weapons to Ukraine, directly or indirectly. On the contrary, we urge you to do your best to achieve a soonest ceasefire: [we are calling] for a compromise acceptable for both sides," the letter says.

Authors of the petition believe that by supplying heavy weaponry to Ukraine in large amounts, Germany may eventually find itself embroiled in the conflict, including if Article Five of the NATO Collective Security Treaty is triggered. In this case, a new world war may begin, the letter says.

The German parliament voted on April 28^th to support a document, calling upon the government to increase military aid to Kiev and to "intensify and expedite German supplies of <…> heavy weapons and sophisticated systems in coordination with partners."

Up until now, Scholz has demonstrated a very cautious approach to supplying heavy weaponry to Ukraine, and found himself under huge pressure for his reluctance to do so. In his interview to Spiegel on April 22^nd, he vowed to do everything within his power to prevent NATO from becoming embroiled in the Ukrainian conflict.

A group of protesters heckled German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during a speech on April 30^th as she defended the government’s decision to send weapons to Ukraine. Around 1,000 people gathered to hear Baerbock speak in the northern German town of Ahrensburg. At the same time, roughly 150 attendees booed the minister and used whistles, sirens, and loudspeakers when she was on stage, police said. Some shouted “warmonger” and “liar” at Baerbock.

3. Eva Bartlett: Ukrainian strike on Donetsk market was a terrorist act

Released April 30th 2022 at 20:11

“If the Donetsk marketplace that was hit by rocket artillery on Thursday had been in a city controlled by Kiev, the names and faces of the five civilians killed would be on all major news sites. But because it was another Ukrainian attack on civilians in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), the deaths and 23 additional civilians injured will almost certainly go unreported, as has the been the norm during the regime’s eight years of the Donbass and Western media’s eight years of ignoring the attacks.

According to the DPR's Healthcare Ministry, “The strike at the Tekstilschik neighbourhood in the Kirovsky district killed four people on the spot. One patient died in an ambulance during the transportation.”

With another journalist, I went in a taxi to the bombed markets. Two of the dead still lay at the site when we arrived, splayed on the ground. The other bodies had already been removed, but traces of their blood remained on the ground, doors nearby were riddled with shrapnel holes and debris from the strike was all around.

Presumably, rescue workers dealt with the injured first and didn’t prioritize retrieving all the dead as further Ukrainian strikes were possible. I saw this during my experience in Gaza, where Israeli's waited for people to come to the scene of their attack, then bombed again.

According to Gennady Andreevich, a local employee of the district's safety commission, at 11:40 am Grad missiles struck two different nearby markets: the vegetable and clothing market where the bodies lay, and a household chemicals and building materials market across and down the street. The latter was far more damaged, stalls completely burnt out, but no one was killed there.

Gennady walked with us to the vegetable market, speaking about previous Ukrainian attacks–which have been happening since 2014. More recent shellings hit near a gas station outside the market, at a residential building beyond the market, and in his own market administrative building, killing two colleagues.

He noted that at this time of day the market would have been filled with people, and that Ukraine knows very well what it is firing at.

“They know there is a market here and that from 10am to 1pm there are many people here,” Gennady said as we walked past shops.

This is a completely civilian area, no military installations”.

A comment: Mikael S600    2 days ago

“As an American I'm so sick of our government and media ignorance of what Ukraine is doing to these people! The hypocrisy is insane”.

Note: Eva Bartlett is a Canadian independent journalist. She has spent years on the ground covering conflict zones in the Middle East, especially in Syria and Palestine (where she lived for nearly four years). @evakbartlett

[ https://www.rt.com/russia/554744-donetsk-market-strike-terrorism]

4. Demilitarization continues

MOSCOW, May 1. /TASS/. Aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed two S-300 missile systems and damaged two warehouses with ammunition and fuel on Ukrainian territory, spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry Major General Igor Konashenkov told reporters on May 1^st.

"Operational-tactical and army aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed two Ukrainian S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems in the areas of the settlements of Zaporozhye and Artemovsk. Two ammunition and fuel warehouses in the areas of the settlements of Privolnoe and Shevchenko of the Zaporozhye region were hit, as well as 15 strongholds and areas of concentration of forces and equipment," he said.

The Russian Armed Forces destroyed a hangar with weapons and ammunition delivered from the United States and European countries to the Odessa region using Oniks missiles and destroyed the runway of a military airfield, Konashenkov added. "High-precision Onyx missiles destroyed a hangar with weapons and ammunition received from the United States and European countries at a military airfield in the Odessa region and also destroyed the runway," he said.

Seven military facilities of Ukraine were hit by high-precision missiles of the Russian Aerospace Forces, including three warehouses of missile weapons and ammunition, Konashenkov added. "High-precision air-launched missile of the Russian Aerospace Forces hit seven military facilities of Ukraine, including four areas of concentration of forces and military equipment, as well as three warehouses of missile and artillery weapons and ammunition in the areas of the settlements of Berezovoe in the Donetsk People's Republic, Slatino and Barvenkovo in the Kharkov region," he said.

At the same time, Russian air defense systems destroyed two Ukrainian Su-24M aircraft, 12 drones, and two Tochka-U missiles. "Russian air defense systems shot down two Su-24M bombers of the Ukrainian Air Force in the Kharkov region. Also 12 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed during the night," Konashenkov said.

5. Why Russia uses the term “genocide”

The term "genocide" is used in relation to three Ukrainian aggressions vs Donbass. The meaning of "genocide" is described in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide approved and proposed for signature and ratification or accession by the UN General Assembly resolution 260 A (III) of 9 December 1948 Entry into force: 12 January 1951, in accordance with article XIII, especially from Articles I and II.

          Article I. The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.

          Article II. In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) killing members of the group; (b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

          Ukraine has killed 14,000 and injured 34,000 civilians in Donbass during two armed aggressions (2014-2015), and is killing civilians there after February 24th, 2022 as well.

          Ukraine has intentionally killed and is killing Russians and Ukrainians who profess Orthodox Christianity. The DPR found 300 massive civilians' graves on the territory it has captured after February 24th, 2022.

          Ukrainian Armed Forces shells the DPR and LPR every day since the signing of the Minsk Accord (2015) intentionally selecting houses and social infrastructure there by using heavy weapons of 156, 122 and 120 mm, and cluster munitions.

          Zelensky publicly said that all Russians living in Donbass should go to Russia.

          Ukraine banned Russian language in Donbass.

          Under secret Presidential act of 2014 Ukrainian military has the right to soot to kill without investigation and trial all those residents in Donbass who display disloyalty towards ultra-nationalist regime  that came to power due to a bloody coup.

6. A warning from Moscow to Ukraine and its masters in NATO

The scale of the West's participation in Kiev's third aggression against Donbass and its own citizens is growing. It obvious fact. Nearly a week ago the total amount of arms supplies from the USA to a failed Ukrainian regime in terms of money was nearly $ 4 billion, nowadays their price tag might reach $ 20 billion. And this figure seemingly is not the final one. The USA and its aggressive NATO allies intend to send tanks and combat aircraft. Under the guise of mercenaries and instructors they send to Ukrainian Armed Forces to fight as real gunners, tank drivers, ECM operators, commanding and intelligence officers with the only aim – to continue fighting vs Donbass for many more years.

British Foreign Minister Liz Truss, with a claim to the collective position of Europe, called the Russian-Ukrainian regional conflict "the confrontation of the West with Russia." On April 28, she also called for expanding the geography of arms supplies to new "hot spots", to which she referred Georgia and Moldova.

U.K. Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said it was "completely legitimate" for Ukraine to hit logistical targets in Russia. He told Times Radio on April 26th that Ukraine was justified in seeking to disrupt Russian supplies. "In war, Ukraine needs to strike into its opponents' depth to attack its logistics lines, its fuel supplies, its ammunition depots, and that's part of it," he said. In his words, "It is completely legitimate for Ukraine to be targeting in Russia's depth in order to disrupt the logistics, that if they weren't disrupted would directly contribute to death and carnage on Ukrainian soil." Heappey acknowledged the weapons provided by the West to Ukraine "have the range to be used over the borders" in Russia,

The same day, the head of the MoD, Ben Wallace, "brought into compliance" with the norms of international law the attacks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on "supply facilities of the Russian Army," including on the territory of the Russian Federation.

The leaders of the United States and Great Britain on various international platforms, intimidating the public with the outbreak of World War III, are increasingly dragging the collective West into a proxy war in Ukraine, developed and sponsored by NATO and the United States. There are calls everywhere on the need to increase the supply of weapons and military equipment to Ukraine, including long-range artillery and air defense systems.

The number of anti-Russian provocations is also growing. At the end of April, Poland and Romania announced military exercises near the borders with Ukraine and Moldova.

Multibillion-dollar arms supplies to Ukraine are emptying the budgets of European states every day. With reservations about the urgent need for assistance from the West, the President of Ukraine Zelensky assures the world community of his readiness to resist Russia "at least for the next 10 years." According to these terms, the opinions of Zelensky and Ms Trust surprisingly coincided. By accident?

Despite this the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, speaking to the deputies of the Federal Assembly on April 27, once again stressed that all the tasks of the special military operation will certainly be fulfilled, and gave a warning that if someone intends to interfere in the ongoing events from the outside and create unacceptable strategic threats of a strategic nature unacceptable to Russia, then they should know that Russia’s counter-strikes will be lightning fast.

Russia is ready for a decisive response to all those who stand in the way of achieving the goals of a special military operation. “We have all the tools to do this. Tools that no one except us can brag about. But we’re not going to brag. We’ll use them if such a need arises,”  the President of the Russian Federation underlined.

On February 28^th by his order, the national deterrence forces have already improved the regime of the operators’ on duty, although they have not increased the degree of combat readiness of the nuclear forces. On April 20, a successful test launch of a new generation intercontinental ballistic missile "Sarmat", which has no analogues in the world, equipped with a hypersonic gliding vehicle, was carried out.

Vladimir Putin's statement in Saint Petersburg bears a direct signal to both the collective West and Ukraine that in the event of their direct or indirect intervention, Russia will be ready to respond with all the "tools" it has. Including in case of encroachment on its sovereignty and territorial integrity, against the Republic of Crimea, whose territory has been part of the Russian Empire since 1783, and Donbass that has no desire to live inside ultra-nationalist country killing its people and destroying its economy and normal life.

Written by Vladimir P. Kozin