The battle for Mariupol is entering a critical phase and could be decided within days.
Ukrainian soldiers continue to cling on in parts of the besieged port city but Russia’s slow advance continues.
The area has seen the worst fighting since the invasion began on February 24 and stands in the way of the Kremlin’s strategic goal of linking up the Donbas region with the annexed Crimean peninsula.
Russia claims more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers surrendered in the city yesterday but this has been described as a likely falsification by one expert group.
State TV said members of Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade were taken by the Russian army and footage of men in military fatigues holding their hands up was broadcast.
They could be seen being walked along a path towards masked soldiers cradling assault rifles and a wounded man is pictured being carried away on a stretcher.
An unidentified Russian soldier is heard saying troops have encircled the city but Ukrainian forces still hold key locations, according to Western analysts.
An assessment by the Institute for the Study of War said ‘claims of a mass surrender…are likely false’ but concluded it did appear Ukrainian forces had to abandon a metal plant in the north of the city which has served as a base.
The same group said Kremlin troops ‘will likely capture Mariupol in the coming week’ but previous predictions have proved to be premature because of Ukraine’s staunch resistance.
Its forces have beaten the odds before in this conflict and the attack on the Moskva warship – which supplies air defence support to Russian troops in the south – will raise hopes the Kremlin’s plans can be disrupted.
Two remaining pockets of Ukrainian fighters remain in the city, including members of the Azov battalion, a militia with far-right links which was adopted into the Ukrainian military after it entered the war against Russian seperatists.
According to Ukrainian officials yesterday, an ‘operation’ allowed the two groups to link up and fight on as one unit after becoming separated.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has continued to call on the West to provide more military aid amid fears soldiers in Mariupol are running out of ammunition.
On Monday, a post on the Ukrainian marine brigade’s Facebook page was low on supplies and preparing for the ‘ultimate battle’.
It read: ‘Beyond that: hand to hand fighting. Beyond that, for some death, for others capture.’
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The post could not be verified and some Ukrainian officials suggested it may have been fake at the time.
The UK Ministry of Defence said the ‘continued defence of Mariupol is currently tying down significant numbers of Russian troops and equipment’, slowing the expected assault on the wider Donbas region.
Vadym Boichenko, Mariupol’s mayor, said in televised remarks that more than 100,000 people remained in the city awaiting evacuation.
He earlier reported that some 21,000 civilian residents had been killed during the siege and 90% of the cities infrastructure is reportedly damaged.
Kostyantyn Ivashchenko, a pro-Russian politicians, has been installed as Russia’s puppet mayor and reportedly ordered to clear the streets of bodies and debris by May 9 for a parade.
Vladimir Putin has seemingly set the date as a target to declare any sort of success in Ukraine to coincide with Victory Day, a national holiday which marks the German surrender and end of the war on the Soviet Union in 1945.
Russia-Ukraine war: Everything you need to know
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, the country has suffered widespread damages and loss of life amid a major bombing campaign.
Millions of people have fled the country, with thousands of British people opening up their homes to Ukrainian refugees.
During the course of the war, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has remained in Kyiv, despite the Ukrainian capital being subjected to a barrage of bombing.
Zelensky has continuously pushed for aid and support from world leaders, as well as pressing for fast-tracked NATO membership.
Meanwhile, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has been widely condemned for his attack on Ukraine.
His actions have been met by harsh economic sanctions, bans from competing in major sporting events, and countries moving away from using Russian oil.
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- Does Russia have any allies and what have they said about Ukraine?
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