US and Western officials believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin might officially declare a war on Ukraine on Victory Day-- May 9. This could mean full mobilisation of Russia's reserve forces.
Victory Day is celebrated in a grand manner in Russia, with a huge military parade in Moscow. Sergey Lavrov, on May 1 had indicated that Russia doesn't intend to end its offensive in Ukraine on Victory Day. Victory Day marks the surrender of the Nazi forces to the allied forces including the Soviet Union.
When Putin invaded Ukraine on February 24, he called it a “special military operation” to “demilitarise and de-nazify” Ukraine. A public declaration of war could bolster public support for its invasion. It could also, in the case of some nations, end neutrality towards Ukraine.
“I think he (Putin) will try to move from his ‘special operation’,” UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told LBC Radio last week
In the meantime, the World Health Organization's incident manager for Ukraine says evacuees from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol are on the way toward government-controlled areas away from the most intense combat zones where Ukrainian and Russian forces are fighting.
Dr Dorit Nitzan, speaking by video to reporters in Geneva from government-controlled Zaporizhzhia, said WHO teams have been among workers from the UN and other aid groups who have deployed to help dozens of evacuees up to 100 from the plant.
Things are moving, she said Tuesday. We know that they are on the way.
The United Nations humanitarian aid coordinator and the International Committee of the Red Cross were leading the evacuation, after securing an agreement from Ukrainian and Russian authorities in recent days.
Nitzan said about 100 people have been trickling out in their own vehicles from Mariupol in recent days.
– with PTI inputs
