The deadline for the Russian ultimatum demanding the surrender of Ukrainian forces in Mariupol has passed without any indication that the Ukrainian forces would comply with the Russian demand.
The last Ukrainian fighters are holed up, according to some reports, along with 1,000 civilians, in the city’s huge Azovstal steel plant.
The deadline announced by Moscow comes as a local Ukrainian commander warned that his forces could only hold out for “days or hours”.
But Kyiv says there is an initial deal to rescue some civilians from the city.
Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshuk wrote on Facebook that women, children and the elderly would be allowed to leave Mariupol under the agreement.
The city’s mayor, Vadim Boychenko, told national television that Ukraine hopes to send 90 buses to evacuate about 6,000 people on Wednesday. He added that about 100,000 people are still trapped in Mariupol.
The Azovstal Iron and Steel Plant – a huge 10 square kilometer plant in the southeast of the city – became the last center of the Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol.
picture released, Reuters
As Russian forces slowly advance into the heart of Mariupol, the sprawling compound has become a refuge for thousands of Ukrainian soldiers, including fighters from the Azov Battalion – a controversial National Guard unit with links to the far right.
The site is a block of tunnels and workshops, and provides a natural advantage for defenders.
Yan Gagin, an official in the breakaway Donetsk People’s Republic, told Russia’s state news network, RIA Novosti, over the weekend that there was “essentially another city” under the plant.
Russia was bombing the factory with artillery and air strikes, and Moscow gave two deadlines for the troops to surrender.
An adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia is targeting defenders with bunker-busting weapons — massive bombs designed to pierce dense armor and kill underground targets.
This is the second deadline Moscow has given Ukrainian forces at the plant this week. Despite this and the brutal nature of the Russian blockade, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that not a single soldier had surrendered when a similar deadline passed two days ago.
It was not clear how many Ukrainian forces remained in the city, but the commander of the local navy, Major Serhiy Volina, said in a video message sent to the BBC that about 500 wounded troops were being cared for at the steel plant.
Volina, who commands the 36th Marines Battalion, said his troops are running out of supplies and that the video represents “our last speech to the world. It may be our last ever.”
He said that the Russian forces outnumber the Ukrainians “tens of times”, and that they “victory in the air, artillery, ground forces, vehicles and tanks”, but morale among Ukrainians is still high.
The deputy mayor of Mariupol warned that the plant was running out of essential supplies.
“They are suffering from a severe shortage of everything. There is a shortage of water, food, medicine and aid, and Russia is preventing them from everything, any humanitarian aid or evacuation,” Serhiy Orlov told the BBC.
Olina Nikolina’s cousin, who is fighting with Ukrainian forces in Mariupol, said that she last had contact with him on 8 March when he told her that his unit “has little food and medical supplies – and it is difficult to treat wounded soldiers.”
picture released, Reuters
Ukrainian officials say about 100,000 civilians remain in the city, which has been almost completely destroyed by Russian bombing.
Several previous attempts to organize humanitarian corridors from the city have failed, with Russia and Ukraine accusing each other of bad faith in negotiations and refusing to ensure compliance with the ceasefire. But Vereshuk said Moscow had agreed to allow 6,000 people to evacuate the city on Wednesday.
She called on those wishing to leave Mariupol to gather at 14:00 local time, for a convoy of buses to take them towards western Ukraine.
But she warned that the security situation could mean “changes” during the evacuation.
Ukraine has previously claimed that Russia forcibly evacuated thousands of Ukrainian civilians from the city to Russia.
Why is Russia focusing on Mariupol?
US defense officials said Tuesday that about 76 battalion tactical groups – comprising groups of Russian armored, infantry and air defense units – operate inside Ukraine, 12 of which are focused on the offensive in Mariupol.
If the city fell, about 10,000 soldiers would be freed to take part in the Russian offensive, which refocused on the Donbass region, and allowed Moscow to link its forces in Crimea with separatist forces in the east.
If Russian forces take Mariupol, Russia will also end up in complete control of the Sea of Azov, cutting off Ukraine’s maritime trade and isolating it from the world.
The fall of Mariupol will also provide President Vladimir Putin with a major propaganda opportunity.
The Russian forces have only captured one major Ukrainian city, Kherson, and the control of Mariupol means that the Kremlin can tell the Russians that it is achieving its goals and making progress.
Capturing the Azov Battalion would also allow Putin to pass his argument that the Ukrainian government is dominated by “Nazis.”
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