Russia announced its final offensive to take Mariupol: there are still more than 100 thousand people

The Russian Army today announced the final offensive for the seizure of the port city of Mariupol (Sea of Azov) after the deadline for Ukrainian forces to lay down their arms and leave the city in the direction of Kiev-controlled territory expired.

“We have repeatedly informed Kiev through all accessible channels of the proposals about the possibility of withdrawing from Mariupol of Ukrainian Armed Forces units that lay down their weapons,” said the spokesman of the Russian Defense Ministry, General Igor Konashenkov, in his afternoon part.

According to the Russian general, from 6 a.m. local time today, the proposal to the Ukrainian military to surrender the weapons and leave on a safe route to the territories controlled by the Ukrainian authorities was reiterated, which was ignored.

“Taking into consideration Kiev's disinterest in preserving the life of its soldiers, Mariupol will be freed from nationalist units by the Armed Forces of Russia and the Donetsk People's Republic,” he warned.

He pointed out that this morning the Russian Army thwarted a new attempt to evacuate under the command of the nationalist Azov battalion with the shooting down of two Mi-8 helicopters that were trying to reach the city from the sea.

Konashenkov reported that the forces of the “Lugansk People's Republic” continued their advance against the positions of the 24th Motorized Brigade of the Ukrainian Army, which brought him battle on the outskirts of the town of Novotoskovskoye.

In addition, he noted that these forces managed to break the defense lines of the 57th Ukrainian Motorized Infantry Brigade, which lost up to 50 troops and 9 armored vehicles in the northern borders of the town of Zamulovka.

Mariupol, a city where about one hundred thousand people still remain, according to various estimates, has been under siege by Russian troops and separatist militias for several weeks. According to the City Council, on the siege of the city, condemned for its brutality by the international community, some five thousand people may have died.

Last week, the Russian Army withdrew from the Kiev region and regrouped its forces to focus all its efforts on the conquest of Donbas, the original objective of Moscow's so-called “special military operation” launched on February 24, which was confirmed today by NATO.

The situation in Mariupol “goes beyond the humanitarian catastrophe,” the mayor of that city in southeastern Ukraine, which has been besieged and bombed for weeks by Russian troops, told AFP on Tuesday.

“The situation goes beyond the humanitarian catastrophe, because for more than 30 days people have not had heat, water, or anything,” said the mayor, Vadim Boichenko, via videoconference from Zaporiyia, 200 km from Mariupol.

“We estimate the number of inhabitants still present in Mariupol to be around 120,000 and “it is very important to evacuate them all. Their situation is not dangerous, it is unviable,” he stressed.

“We are coordinating with several interlocutors to get the entire population out of Mariupol,” said the mayor.

(With information from EFE and AFP)

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