Ukraine holds off Russian advances

KHARKIV, Apr 30 (AP/Reuters): Ukrainian forces fought to hold off Russian attempts to advance in the south and east, where the Kremlin is seeking to capture the country's industrial Donbas region, and a senior U.S. defense official said Moscow's offensive is going much slower than planned.
While artillery fire, sirens and explosions were heard Friday in some cities, the United Nations sought to broker an evacuation of civilians from the increasingly hellish ruins of Mariupol, where the mayor said the situation inside the steel plant that has become the southern port city's last stronghold is dire.
Citizens are "begging to get saved," Mayor Vadym Boichenko said. "There, it's not a matter of days. It's a matter of hours."
The mayor of the town of Popasna in eastern Ukraine, Nikolai Khanatov, says two buses that were headed there to evacuate residents were fired upon and that contact with the drivers has been lost.
Ukrainian forces are cracking down on people accused of helping Russian troops. In the Kharkiv region alone, nearly 400 have been detained under anti-collaboration laws enacted after Moscow's Feb. 24 invasion.
The international sanctions imposed on the Kremlin over the war are squeezing the country. The Russian Central Bank said Russia's economy is expected to contract by up to 10% this year, and the outlook is "extremely uncertain."
Getting a full picture of the unfolding battle in the east has been difficult because airstrikes and artillery barrages have made it extremely dangerous for reporters to move around. Both Ukraine and the Moscow-backed rebels fighting in the east also have introduced tight restrictions on reporting from the combat zone.
But so far, Russia's troops and the separatist forces appear to have made only minor gains in the Donbas in the month since Moscow said it would focus its military strength in eastern Ukraine.
Russia taking 'colossal
losses' in eastern battle
Ukraine acknowledged on Friday it was taking heavy losses in Russia's assault in the east, but said Russia's losses were even worse, as US President Joe Biden called on Congress to send as much as $33 billion to help Kyiv withstand the attack.
President Volodymyr Zelensky praised Biden's offer of help, which amounts to nearly 10 times the aid Washington has sent so far since the war began on Feb 24.
In Kyiv, workers were cleaning up rubble in a residential area after Russia fired two missiles at the capital during a visit on Thursday by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, which Ukraine called an attack on the United Nations itself.
Having failed in an assault on Kyiv in the north of Ukraine last month, Russia is now trying to fully capture two eastern provinces known as the Donbas.
Ukraine has acknowledged losing control of some towns and villages there since the assault began last week, but says Moscow's gains have come at a massive cost to a Russian force already worn down from its earlier defeat near the capital.
"We have serious losses but the Russians' losses are much much bigger...They have colossal losses," presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said.
By pledging tens of billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine, Biden has dramatically increased US involvement in the conflict. The United States and its allies are now sending heavy weapons including artillery, with what Washington says is an aim not just to repel Russia's attack but to weaken its armed forces so it cannot menace its neighbours again.
"We need this bill to support Ukraine in its fight for freedom," Biden said. "The cost of this fight - it's not cheap - but caving to aggression is going to be more costly."
Zelenskiy tweeted: "Thank you @POTUS and the American people for their leadership in supporting Ukraine in our fight against Russian aggression. We defend common values - democracy and freedom. We appreciate the help. Today it is needed more than ever!"
Russia has said the arrival of Western arms into Ukraine means it is now fighting a "proxy war" against NATO. President Vladimir Putin threatened unspecified retaliation this week, while his foreign minister warned of a threat of nuclear war.