War in Ukraine | Mariupol | Ukrainian forces ready to “fight to the end”

Russian troops could block the southern and northern entrances to Mariupol and require passes to travel there as early as Monday, CNN reported Sunday. In the besieged city, the remaining Ukrainian defenders ignored Russia’s ultimatum on Sunday, saying they would “fight to the end”.

Lila Dussault
The Press

According to Russian forces, 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers are still entrenched in the Azovstal metallurgical complex in Mariupol. They refused on Sunday to deliver the city to Russia, after more than 50 days of fighting.

Moscow had asked the last combatants to lay down their arms in the morning and to evacuate the premises at midday.

Ignoring the Russian ultimatum, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmyhal assured that Ukrainian troops would continue to defend Mariupol: “No, the city has not fallen. Our military forces, our soldiers are still there. They will fight until the end,” he assured the American television channel ABC on Sunday.

The head of diplomacy of Ukraine, Dmytro Kouleba, for his part accused the Russian army of wanting to “raze the city at all costs”, in an interview broadcast by CBS. The day before, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, had warned that the “elimination” of the last Ukrainian soldiers “would put an end to all peace negotiations” with Moscow.

At the end of the day on Sunday, Mariupol was still under Ukrainian control, according to the sources consulted by The Press. “Russia has been issuing ultimatums for three weeks,” notes Dominique Arel, holder of the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa.

Recall that the capture of this city would be an important victory for the Russians, allowing them to consolidate their coastal territorial gains along the Sea of ​​Azov by linking the Donbass region, partly controlled by their supporters, to Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.

Pass to Mariupol?

An adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, however, warned that Russian forces would block the northern and southern entrances to the city from Monday and demand passes from the population, the American channel CNN reported on Sunday evening.

“Hundreds of citizens had to wait in line to get a pass, without which it will be impossible not only to move between districts of the city, but also to go out on the streets, starting next week,” said Petro Andriushchenko on the Telegram mobile application.

CNN could not independently verify the information provided by Mr. Andriushchenko. This one is not in Mariupol, but works from outside to collect facts from inhabitants of the besieged city, specifies the American chain.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, the Ukrainian General Staff reported Russian airstrikes on Mariupol and mentioned “assault operations near the port”, but without further details.

According to Ukrainian officials, the fighting killed at least 21,000 people in Mariupol. The city would only have 120,000 inhabitants, whereas its population had risen to 450,000 before the invasion. According to the Director General of the World Food Program, David Beasley, more than 100,000 civilians are on the verge of starvation and lack heating in the port city.

“Destroy the Donbass”

President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of wanting to “destroy” all of Donbass, in the east of the country. The region of Luhansk, in the east, thus continued to undergo heavy bombardments, causing deaths and injuries, while warehouses of fuel and ammunition were targeted in the regions of Izium and near the city of Donetsk .

In addition, at least 5 people were killed and 13 injured on Sunday in a series of strikes on Kharkiv, a large city in northeastern Ukraine. Under the circumstances, the Ukrainian authorities have suspended the humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians from eastern Ukraine, for lack of an agreement with the Russian army on a cessation of firing.

Russian forces “continue to deploy combat and support equipment from Belarus to eastern Ukraine, including in locations near Kharkiv and Sievierodonetsk”, the UK Ministry of Defense confirmed. .

Russian forces also said on Sunday they had bombed a new arms factory near Kyiv, carrying out, for the third consecutive day, their threat to intensify their attacks against the Ukrainian capital after the destruction of the flagship of their fleet on Thursday. in the Black Sea.

A long-awaited offensive

The major offensive expected for more than a week now in the east of the country has still not taken place. The Institute for the Study of War, which analyzes the situation on the ground, observed that the Russians had launched small offensives around Izium, Popasna and the region of Rubizhne and Sievierodonetsk, with artillery or mechanized forces.

But he believes these attacks are unlikely to be more effective than those around Kyiv in March, “unless the Russians change their operating model significantly”.

Not to mention that the Russian troops have not been able to “overthrow Kharkiv” and therefore cannot use the country’s railways, specifies Dominique Arel.

“Russia keeps announcing the imminent fall of Mariupol, but it is not done and it mobilizes about 15,000 Russian troops, observes Mr. Arel. As long as these fights continue, Russia cannot send these troops [ailleurs]. »