No direct attack on the steel mill Azovstal. Wladimir Putin explains that the city Mariupol is now in hand Russian, but the facility, where at least two thousand men are barricaded, needs only to be surrounded and, for the time being, not hit. It must be surrounded so far that “not even a fly can get through,” thunders the tsar. And that’s because with the territory around the “crystallized” steel mill, the Kremlin He can announce a swift victory over the rest of the city, freeing up military and weaponry for the campaigns he launches elsewhere in the Donbass and in the cities in the southeast of the country.
“Zelensky orders the surrender of the steelworks”, General Bertolini: This is the only way to prevent a massacre
Putin: “Mariupol is ours”
The capture of the city was announced by Moscow yesterday morning and, as with everything in this war, there were replies and denials. “They cannot physically take Asvostal – stated Advisor to the President of Ukraine Oleksiy Arestovych – and they clearly understood this. They suffered great losses in this area. Our resistance continues to stand ». The same reaction of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and also of the US President Joe Biden, who did not confirm the capture of Mariupol by the Russians. “It’s just a show,” Biden said. “I am sure that the occupiers will not stop until the residents of Azovstal are completely destroyed,” wrote the mayor’s adviser Petro Andryushchenko on Telegram. Only external intervention and security guarantees from our foreign partners will be able to save the situation ». “There are airstrikes, constant bombing – confirmed Mariupol Deputy Mayor Sergey Orlov – but it hasn’t fallen yet”.
The flags of the breakaway republic of Donetsk have been flying in the city for a few days. And that many of the Moscow special forces are leaving the territory to move towards Donbass, where an even fiercer fight is expected.
THE INTERVIEW
And that’s why yesterday Putin decided to broadcast the interview with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, in which the general officially informed him about the capture of the city. Hence the President’s statement to announce the blocking of the operation against Azovstal, but also not to allow any movement in this area. The Kremlin has again offered surrender to those still barricaded in the factory. “If they leave, their lives will be saved,” they repeated. The others, according to Moscow’s plan, are to be slowly suffocated until they run out of supplies and are forced to lay down their arms.
INTERESTS
The situation seems to remain immobile. It is now clear that a delicate balance is at work around Azovstal. Special interests that go far beyond the importance of the industrial structure. Too many lives would be lost on both sides. And Putin doesn’t want to play the role of “war criminal” that Biden continues to play for him. “There is no need to climb into these catacombs and crawl underground,” he said in a supreme commander’s version, face to face with the minister. In the conversation between the tsar and Shoigu, the general reported that the facility “still hides the remaining nationalist militants and foreign mercenaries”. He also noted that Kyiv had significantly fortified Mariupol, sending about 8,100 soldiers, militants from nationalist battalions and foreign mercenaries. Of these, according to the minister’s report to the President, over 4,000 Ukrainian fighters were killed and another 1,500 handed over to Russia. No mention of number of Russian casualties.
THE PROPAGANDA
The Russian propaganda message also mentioned the humanitarian corridors, which Shoigu said were opened every day, evacuating 142,700 people. Numbers that stand out clearly from all the pictures and videos that come from these areas. Only a few remain of the 90 buses that should have left the city. They have arrived in Zaporizhia, but for many it will not be a final departure. “We will return to our homes – they declared – Mariupol will never become Russian”.
It will be three to four days before Moscow takes possession of the steelworks. “In this case – Putin himself said in the video released by Russian television – we need to think about saving the lives and health of our soldiers and officers.” Indeed, storming Azovstal could mean finding mines and traps set by those who have barricaded themselves inside for weeks. The facility and its network of underground tunnels serve as a haven and last resort for thousands of Ukrainian fighters, including many from the Azov Battalion, one of Ukraine’s most experienced and controversial military units. In addition, if the Mariupol City Council agrees with Telegram, up to 1,000 civilians would be hiding in the underground network. “Below the city there is practically another city,” said Yan Gagin, an adviser to the pro-Moscow separatist group of the Donetsk People’s Republic. Gagin admitted the site was designed to withstand shelling and blockades, and has an integrated communications system that heavily favors defenders even when they are vastly outnumbered. Meanwhile, local Ukrainian authorities are denouncing a true massacre: “Up to 9,000 dead in a mass grave in Manhush,” a town 20 km from Mariupol.
TRADE
However, a way out is still being negotiated at the diplomatic level after the Kiev negotiators offered to go to the city. Fighters from the Azov regiment and Ukrainian marines, who have always refused to surrender, have asked to be taken to a third country, with Turkey already a candidate for sending a ship to break the deadlock . Also because the hourglass is now flowing and not in their favor. The situation, explained the CEO of the steel mill, Yuriy Ryzhenkov, «is close to catastrophe. When the war started we had a good supply of food and water stored in the air-raid shelters and in the plant facilities, he said. Unfortunately, everything tends to go out”. In more than 50 days of Russian poundings, Mariupol was devastated, with 90% of the buildings damaged or destroyed. The civilian death toll – over 20,000 according to local authorities – remains fragmented and uncertain. Also because as hostilities subside, new atrocities emerge. “Our citizens – the mayor repeatedly denounced – reported that Russian soldiers dug a 30-meter-long mass grave in Mangush, near Mariupol, and brought bodies by truck.”
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