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Russia has issued a new ultimatum to Ukrainian forces fighting to protect Mariupol, which are now gathering at the Azovstal steel complex, where civilians are reportedly being sheltered.
The port city is one of the hardest hit by the fury of the Russian army, with relentless bombing that has turned it almost into ruins. However, Mariupol has not yet surrendered and this resistance has infuriated Moscow, according to the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, has decided to flatten the city.
In the early hours of today, the commander of the Ukrainian Marines, who are fighting the Russians who have besieged Azostal, Major Serhiy Volyna posted a video saying that he may have only a few hours left. He said his troops would not be handed over, but called for international help for the 500 wounded soldiers and hundreds of women and children hiding in the factory.
“This may be the last time we address the world, because it is possible that we have a few days left if not just a few hours. We call on international leaders to help us, to arrange for us to be evacuated and sent to a third country. Enemy units are many times larger in number; they have superiority over air, artillery, ground troops, vehicles and tanks. Our wounded are in pretty bad condition. “They are in the basement, they are practically rotting there.” says Major Serhiy Volyna.
About 130,000 citizens are stranded in the besieged Mariupol for 50 days, and have great difficulty securing food, water and medicine. This city has been a strategic target of Russia since the start of the attack on 24 February. President Volodymyr Zelensky told the BBC he believed some 20,000 people could have been killed in the Moscow bombings there, and it was not known how many more were forcibly sent to Russian territory.
Russia on Tuesday launched a new offensive to take control of eastern Ukraine through bombings in the Donbas region and took the city of Kremlin, but Ukraine said it was defending the territory and repelling some of the initial attacks. “Another phase of this operation begins now,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, adding that Moscow’s goal was to “completely liberate” the Donetsk and Luhansk territories to the east. In Washington, a senior Defense Department official called the new Russian military offensive a “prelude” to other campaigns that would follow, adding that “there is a real possibility that this will last, as both sides have taken positions.” strong.
The official said Ukraine was at a numerical disadvantage compared to Russian forces, but that “this does not mean that they have no other advantages or capabilities to defend themselves” with weapons that are “sent to them every day.”
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