Entrenched in Azovstal Steel Plant
Kremlin: Ukrainian troops will not give up Mariupol
04/17/2022 12:03 p.m
With an ultimatum, the Kremlin wants to achieve the surrender of the Ukrainian troops in Mariupol. However, the plan doesn’t work out. Immediately after the deadline, Russia resumes its attacks on the port city.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukrainian troops fighting in the south-eastern Ukrainian port of Mariupol do not want to surrender. The units, including 400 foreign mercenaries, were holed up in the Azovstal steelworks, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in Moscow. The government in Kyiv has forbidden them to lay down their arms.
Moscow had previously issued an ultimatum and assured the soldiers that they would live if they surrendered. “In the event of further resistance, they will all be destroyed,” said Konashenkov. According to Russian information, there are about 2,500 fighters in the plant who want to defend the city against a complete conquest.
According to Ukrainian sources, after the ultimatum expired, the Russian army resumed airstrikes on the fiercely contested port city. Attacks also took place in the port area, it said. Russian units were also “presumably” preparing for a naval operation to land in Mariupol.
Vereshchuk demands evacuation route
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly stated that he wants to do everything to save the strategically important city. He demanded tanks and other heavy weapons from the west to defend eastern Ukraine. Mariupol is in the Donetsk region, which pro-Russian separatists want to take complete control of with Russian help.
According to Russian Major General Konashenkov, around 4,877 mercenaries are still fighting in Ukraine, most of them from Poland, the USA, Canada and Romania. There are also hundreds from Great Britain and the South Caucasus Republic of Georgia. More than 1,000 foreign fighters have been killed so far, he said. This information could not be verified by an independent party. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk also called for the establishment of an evacuation route for injured soldiers from the city of Mariupol.