After more than a month of fighting in Mariupol, Ukrainian forces still refuse to give up the city. A Russian ultimatum to surrender on Sunday was rejected.
The Russians said they would spare the lives of those who surrendered. But the Ukrainians are fighting on, even though they only control a small part of the city. Russia has said it will shut the city off from the outside world from today.
The Ukrainian army reports that after the expiry of the ultimatum, the bombing has intensified again. Rockets and bombs hit the port city. There are also new attacks at the giant Azov Steelworks. There, in the port area of Mariupol, the last Ukrainian armed forces have withdrawn.
The steel factory covers an enormous area of about 25 square kilometers in the port area. It is a maze of railway lines and blast furnaces. A Russian military official called the factory “a fortress in the city,” according to Reuters news agency.
Russia says there are about 2,500 Ukrainian troops and 400 foreign fighters left. According to a police chief, many civilians have also fled there. “They don’t trust the Russians. They see what’s happening in the city and that’s why they stay on the factory site.”
Mariupol is estimated to still have about 100,000 people. They have no water, food, heating or electricity. Before the war, the city had 450,000 inhabitants. Ukraine estimates that 22,000 have already been killed. That number cannot be independently verified. President Zelensky said on Saturday that it is difficult to get an accurate picture of Mariupol because “a lot of people have disappeared”.
Strategic
Mariupol has been surrounded by Russian troops since March 1. The southern port city is of great strategic importance, due to its location between the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia and the Donbas region to the east.
Taking Mariupol would be a huge boost for President Putin. The Russians withdrew from the Kiev region in recent weeks and the country lost the Moskva, the flagship of the Black Sea fleet.
For days, experts have been saying that the city’s fall is imminent. Yet the Ukrainians in the port area are still holding out. The fighting in the city has become a symbol of the Ukrainian resistance. The Ukrainian army, including the far-right Azov battalion, is defending itself with all its might.
Mariupol no longer exists
The city’s mayor said in late March that 80 percent of the city’s homes had been destroyed by Russian bombing. Yesterday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba said Mariupol no longer exists. He called the situation in the city heartbreaking.
According to Koeleba, there have been no high diplomatic negotiations with the Russians in recent times. In that regard, Mariupol could become the red line, he said, following President Zelensky’s lead. He said on Saturday that talks with Russia would end if the remaining Ukrainian troops in Mariupol were “eliminated”.
