Russia tightens the screws on Mariupol after the “time limit”

Moscow closed the strategic port city of Mariupol yesterday, after the deadline it had given Ukrainian soldiers in the city to surrender expired. Moscow said that its forces now control most of the city, which, if it falls, will be the first major city to fall into the hands of Russian forces since the start of the war. 2014.

Several hours after Moscow’s deadline for surrender yesterday morning, there was no sign of surrendering Ukrainian fighters holed up in the giant steel plants of Azovstal on the Sea of ​​Azov. It was not known how many soldiers were in the factories.

Russia said its forces had taken control of the urban area of ​​Mariupol, while Ukraine said it had managed to repel Russian forces in the rest of Donbass, Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Russian military has refocused on the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine, while continuing long-range strikes on other areas, including the capital, Kyiv, and the city of Kharkiv.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian authorities announced yesterday the suspension of humanitarian corridors to evacuate civilians from eastern Ukraine in the absence of an agreement with the Russian army on a ceasefire. “This morning, we failed to negotiate a ceasefire with the occupiers on the evacuation corridors, so unfortunately we will not open humanitarian corridors today,” Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshuk said. “We are sparing no effort to resume the evacuations as soon as possible,” she added. It demanded the opening of a corridor for the evacuation of wounded soldiers from Mariupol.
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