The Russian army wants to level the completely surrounded port city with the country as soon as possible. Share Save Saved Share Share article You must be logged in to save an article. Failed to save changes. Try logging in again and try again. If the problem persists, please contact the administrator. An error has occurred If problems persist, please contact the administrator. Source: Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that due to the Russian aggression, the city of Mariupol essentially ceased to exist. He described the situation in the port city, which has been facing sieges and shelling for seven weeks, in an interview with CBS News “simultaneously militarily and heartbreaking.” Ukraine’s foreign minister said the city of Mariupol “doesn’t exist anymore” after weeks of Russian attacks. https://t.co/zfA0PzWyR2 – Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 17, 2022 Mariupol is of strategic value to Russia, as its conquest would create a land corridor as far as the Crimean peninsula. According to the Russian army, about 2,500 Ukrainian fighters are putting the greatest resistance on the premises of the Azovstal steel plant. “The remnants of the Ukrainian army and a large group of civilians are essentially surrounded by Russian forces. They are trying to continue the resistance, but it is clear from the Russian behavior in Mariupol that they want to level the city at any cost. ”According to official estimates, the war in Mariupol has claimed about 21,000 lives. From the original population of 450,000, about 120,000 people remain in the city. According to Kuleb, the complete capitulation of Mariupol may further hamper the prospect of Ukrainian-Russian peace negotiations. “Even after we saw in Buč, any conversations with the Russians seem extremely difficult. However, Mariupol may represent the red line, as our president has suggested. ”The Ukrainian foreign minister expects the Russian military to intensify its” desperate attacks to destroy Mariupol at all costs “. He expects to start focusing more on the eastern Donbas region soon. Separatist fighters were in factories in Mariupol on Sunday as Ukraine’s crucial port city appeared on the brink of falling to Russian forces.Mariupol defenders were encircled by Russian forces but have not surrendered the city, Ukrainian officials said https://t.co/98EN2nBP7q pic.twitter.com/rA0ne78bqz – Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) April 18, 2022 Russian “sorting” According to Mariupol Mayor Petr Andriushchenko’s adviser, Russian troops have closed all entrances and exits from the city since Monday, and all men who remain in the city will have to undergo “sorting”. According to him, the Russian occupiers introduced a system of passes allowing movement around the city. “Hundreds of citizens have to stand in line to get a pass, without which it will not only be possible to move between the city’s districts, but also to take to the streets from next week.”
Andriushchenko wrote in a post on the Telegram that the Russians planned to mobilize some of the “reclassified” people into Russian occupation forces.
Mariupol City Council says the sorting of Ukrainians is probably part of Russia’s efforts to camouflage potential war crimes committed in the city during the blockade.
Ukrainian forces defending the city on Sunday rejected an ultimatum from the Russian Ministry of Defense calling on them to surrender. Report a bug. If you find a defect in the article or have comments, let us know. Source: cbsnews.comPreview image: Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs