Ukrainian soldiers have entrenched themselves in a factory in the port city, where bombing continues and evacuation of civilians is made impossible.
A martyr city that has not yet fully fallen into the hands of the Russians. Mariupol is undoubtedly a name that marks and will mark the Russian invasion of Ukraine that has been going on for almost two months. Located in the south-east of the country, the port city is now mainly controlled by Moscow’s armed forces, although the military continues to defend certain areas.
“20-25 percent of the city is still defended under Ukrainian control,” Sergei Orlov, deputy mayor of Mariupol, told BFMTV. “The situation is changing, the Ukrainian armed forces control the south of the city, industrial zones, Azovstal factory and the surrounding areas,” he adds.
An ultimatum that the Russians issued on Sunday
Azovstal, a metallurgical complex where the last Ukrainian fighters took refuge, but not only. According to a Mariupol police officer, “many civilians, including women, children, babies and the elderly” are not far from this factory.
On Sunday, Russia’s Defense Ministry urged those present at the factory to cease fighting and evacuate the premises, “the only chance they have of getting out alive.” No question, for the Ukrainian prime minister.
“The city has not fallen yet, there is still our armed forces, our soldiers. They will fight to the end,” explained Denys Shmyhal on the American chain ABC.
“Russia totally blocked the city”
According to Sergei Orlov, “between 100,000 and 130,000 people are still in Mariupol, suffering from shelling, without water, without food, with all the humanitarian problems”. According to World Food Program executive director David Beasley, more than 100,000 civilians in Mariupol are at risk of starvation, even without heating.
Russia completely blocked the city, continues the elected Ukrainian official, regretting the lack of a humanitarian evacuation because of Russia: Those we were able to evacuate left at their own peril and peril.
No humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of civilians from combat zones in Ukraine was established on Monday. A “blockade” denounced by Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Verchtchouk, who accused Russia of bombing the convoys.
President Volodymy Zelenskyy denounced an inhumane situation and called on Westerners to supply heavy weapons for self-defense. “Just as the Russian military is destroying Mariupol, they want to destroy other cities and other communities in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions,” he continued, before launching: “We are doing everything to ensure defense.”
Hugues Garnier with AFP journalist BFMTV