War in Ukraine: Is Mariupol living its last battle? – franceinfo

Published on 04/17/2022 21:57 Updated on 04/17/2022 22:40 France 3 Article written by The Battle of Mariupol may be experiencing its epilogue. The last besieged Ukrainian soldiers ignored Russia’s ultimatum calling on them to lay down their arms on Sunday, April 17. Special envoy Luc Lacroix is ​​present on site. Is Mariupol (Ukraine) fighting its last battle? Despite the ultimatum issued by the Russians, the Ukrainian soldiers did not want to surrender and want to fight until the end. “Here in Mariupol, it’s a deluge of bombardments almost without interruption”, reports the special envoy Luc Lacroix, in duplex from Mariupol, Sunday April 17. “The fighting is concentrated (near) the huge Azovstal steel plant. Ukrainian fighters are entrenched there, they are surrounded,” he continues.

The factory is full of buildings and underground. “There are Ukrainian fighters there who have almost nothing to lose. They are fighters from the Azov battalion (…), Russia’s sworn enemy”, explains Luc Lacroix. Russia calls this battalion “Nazis”. The battle that is being played out around the Azovstal factory is turning out to be “merciless”, in the words of the journalist. Share: Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share by email Share link