The Russian president reappears with his defense minister to announce for the first time some kind of success since the war began
The setbacks suffered so far by the Russian Army, especially in kyiv and its surroundings, which is why a withdrawal had to be ordered to concentrate efforts in Donbas, had not allowed President Vladimir Putin to appear before the public to present some triumph during the campaign. Until this Thursday. The fall of the port city of Mariupol, not yet complete, since the redoubt of resistance in the Azovstal steelworks has not yet been quelled, made it possible for Putin to present himself as a winner.
After receiving verbally from the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, the part informing that the town “has been liberated” by units of the Russian Army and the separatist forces of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk and pointing out that the only thing left is to crush the resistance in the Azovstal steelworks, Putin responded by ordering “cancel the assault on the Mariupol industrial zone” as he considered it “inappropriate,” according to the video posted on the Kremlin website.
In the opinion of the main Russian president, “this is the case when we must think, that is, we must always think, but in this case even more, in saving the life and health of our soldiers and officers.” “There’s no need to get into those catacombs and crawl underground through industrial facilities,” he added magnanimously.
THE KEY MOMENTS OF THE SIEGE:
-
March 2.
First bombardment seven days after the invasion: Russian and pro-Russian forces already surrounded the port city, blockading supplies. -
March 9.
Attack against maternal and child hospital: Three dead and twenty wounded. Ukraine and the EU are calling it of “war crime”. Moscow says Ukrainian fighters were in the building. -
March 16.
Aviation destroys the city theater: The word ‘children’ written on the ground was visible from the air but this building-shelter was bombed. Ukraine spoke of 300 deaths. -
March 31st.
Humanitarian truce: Russia announces a ceasefire to open a humanitarian corridor. kyiv had rejected the first Russian surrender ultimatum on the 21st. -
April 2.
3,000 people are “saved”: Zelensky announced it after days of cross accusations due to the complications in the flight ‘corridor’ that opened towards Zaporizhia. -
April 4.
90% of the city destroyed: the mayor of Mariupol speaks of a “humanitarian catastrophe”. -
April 12th.
Thousands of dead: The regional authorities speak of at least 20,000. -
April 17 and 19.
Calls for surrender go unheeded: The last Ukrainian fighters, entrenched in the Azovstal steelworks, refuse to surrender. -
April 20th.
Negotiation proposal to evacuate “around a thousand women and children” and “hundreds of wounded”.
also ordered that “block this industrial area so even a fly can fly away. Propose once again to those who still have not laid down their arms to do so, Russia will guarantee them life. ” The Russian president also said that “combat work to finalize the release of Mariupol has been a success,” the minister congratulated and expressed his gratitude to the soldiers involved in the operation.
Shoigu said the Azovstal metallurgical plant “there are now more than 2,000 fighters and 1,478 nationalists fences already surrendered before.” He also clarified that at the time when Mariupol was besieged, was inside some 8,100 soldiers in the Ukrainian rows “which included the right-wing nationalists of the Azov group, mercenaries and soldiers of kyiv, including effective the Marine Brigade number 36 of Ukraine. His commander in chief, Serhiy Volyna, said Wednesday that “perhaps we live our last days, maybe hours” and argued that the adversary will outnumber men by a ratio of “ten to one.”
Ukrainian presidential adviser, Oleksiy Arestovich reacted to the announcement by Putin saying that “the Russians are physically unable to seize the Azovstal plant. They suffered many casualties there and our defenders kept their positions. ” And he explained that his refusal to execute the assault “can also be explained by the fact that some of its troops were deployed north to improve Russia’s position there and achieve the main objective, ie reaching administrative borders Donetsk region and the Lugansk region. ”
The deputy commander of the Azov battalion, Sviatoslav Palamar, assured on Wednesday that, after three demands from Russia to hand over their weapons, they were ready to leave Azovstal, “but with our weapons, our wounded and our dead to bury them with all honors.” in territory not controlled by Russia.
negotiate evacuation
The presidential advisers and members of the Ukrainian delegation in talks with Russia, David Arajamía and Mikhailo Podoliak, said they were willing to go to Mariupol to negotiate with Russia the evacuation of civilians and soldiers. “We are ready to hold a special round of negotiations in Mariupol (…) to take away our boys, people from the Azov battalion, military, civilians, children, alive and wounded. Everyone”.
After the failed attempt on Wednesday to evacuate 6,000 civilians from Mariupol, Vereshuk said Thursday that only got out four buses. He insisted that the evacuation “of women, children and the elderly” will continue in the coming days. Also the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called in a statement on Twitter opening a corridor to get confined in Azovstal. “They do not trust Russian troops. a humanitarian corridor is urgently needed to guarantee that people will come out safely, “noted the note.
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