War in Ukraine Live: Mariupol situation “inhumane”, says Zelensky; Moscow claims to have destroyed a new military factory near kyiv

The city of Mariupol had, before the start of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, more than 440,000 inhabitants. After nearly two months of siege, estimates say that around 100,000 civilians remain trapped in the port city. According to the executive director of the World Food Programme, David Beasley, these 100,000 people are on the verge of starvation, also lacking water and a source of heating. “The situation in Mariupol remains as serious as it can get. Simply inhuman,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky got carried away again in his daily address. In terms of human toll, “Mariupol, it can be ten times Borodianka”, a locality located not far from kyiv destroyed after being pounded and the scene of alleged abuses during its occupation, hammered the Ukrainian president. Mr. Zelensky and the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, Iryna Venediktova, had previously said that the situation in Borodianka was itself worse than in Boutcha, where many bodies of civilians were found after the withdrawal of Russian troops. As for the ability of the Ukrainian forces still present in Mariupol to resist, it is very difficult to assess. The Russians have claimed, for several days now, to hold the port city, which the Ukrainians disputed, saying that pockets of resistance remained. According to Western military sources, seven days ago there were still 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers inside Mariupol, in a defensive position, notably in a steelworks equipped with deep underground passages. The Ukrainians were containing the assaults in southwestern and eastern Mariupol, particularly the port and the Azovstal metallurgical plant, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). The Russian Ministry of Defense on Sunday asked these last fighters entrenched in the metallurgical complex to stop fighting on Sunday at 5 a.m. French time and to evacuate the premises before noon. Apart from this pocket of resistance, “the entire territory of the city of Mariupol has been cleared of militants from the Nazi Azov formation, foreign mercenaries and Ukrainian soldiers”, he said. To our knowledge, kyiv had not yet responded to this call to lay down arms. Local residents walk past an apartment building damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 15, 2022. ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO / REUTERS