Ukrainian forces defied Russian demands to surrender to the main port city of Mariupol by Sunday, though the situation seemed bleak as forces remained trapped in the bombed-out city where tens of thousands of stranded civilians are struggling to access access. Analysts expect Russia to occupy the devastated city soon, while re-concentrating its military force in the eastern part of Ukraine, after failing to occupy the capital, Kyiv. The battle for control of eastern and southern cities is the latest stage of an eight-week war as Russia seeks to consolidate its grip on an area that provides strategically important access points to the Black Sea and beyond. . Ukrainian leaders, meanwhile, have called for more US support in Sunday’s news program. The Officials said the besieged cities, including Mariupol, remained under their control, but described the situation as increasingly tragic. The last Ukrainian fighters to withstand the besieged southeastern port city of Mariupol rejected Russian demands to surrender on April 17. (Video: Reuters) Why Russia abandoned the civil war in Kyiv and turned to big battles in the east “The city has not fallen yet,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Smihal told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “There are still our military forces, our soldiers. So they will fight to the end.” Russia had given Ukrainian forces in Mariupol a deadline of 6 a.m. local time on Sunday (11 a.m. Saturday) to surrender. Russia says it broadcasts its orders every 30 minutes throughout the night and has vowed to guarantee the lives of those who laid down their arms. within five hours immediately after the deadline, according to state media. Troops have been besieging the port city for more than a month in a Russian attempt to seize control of the entire coast of the Sea of Azov. That would give Russia control of land and sea between the territories it occupies in eastern Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014. An estimated 100,000 civilians, less than a quarter of the pre-war population, remain in Mariupol cut off from food, water, heat and humanitarian aid, with some exceptions. Mariupol emerged as an early flashpoint in the war with gruesome scenes that caught the attention of the public, including the bombing of a maternity hospital and a theater where hundreds sought refuge. Ukrainian governor says Mariupol “has disappeared from the face of the earth” Moscow claims that the remaining pro-Ukrainian forces in Mariupol have lost control of all but the Azovstal steel plant, one of the largest metallurgical plants in Europe. The Washington Post could not confirm this claim and Ukrainian authorities say they still have troops in other parts of the city. Russian forces “probably occupied” the port area of Mariupol on Saturday, further reducing Ukrainian defenses outside the plant, according to the Institute for War Studies, a reservoir of thought. The report refers to shots of Russian forces in numerous “keys”, including the port itself. “Individual groups of Ukrainian troops may remain active in Mariupol outside the Azovstal plant, but will most likely be cleared by Russian forces in the coming days,” the institute said in a recent assessment. The assessment adds that Russian forces could try to force the remaining defenders at the plant to “surrender through the overwhelming force of fire.” Ukrainian forces, he says, “appear to intend to take a final stand.” Moscow claims that the Ukrainian government has banned negotiations on delivery to the plant, citing radio interceptions. Russian officials have threatened those who remain. “In the event of further resistance, everyone will be eliminated,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a Telegram message exchange. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Ukrainian media that negotiations between the two sides could end if Russian forces kill all Ukrainians defending the city. On April 17, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other senior officials called for additional assistance and suggested that President Biden visit Ukraine. (Video: JM Rieger / The Washington Post) Analysts predict that Mariupol will become the first major Ukrainian city to fall under Russian control, and Ukrainian officials have described the city as lost. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba told CBS “Face the Nation” that Mariupol “no longer exists” and is facing a “terrible military and heartbreaking” situation. Russian forces are issuing traffic tickets around the areas they control in Mariupol. In the coming days, they will be demanded by anyone leaving their homes, said Petro Andruschenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian mayor of Mariupol. Russia had not agreed on a ceasefire that would allow the evacuation of civilians, including Mariupol, on Sunday, Ukrainian Vice President Iryna Vereshchuk said. “We are working hard to get the humanitarian corridors back on track as soon as possible,” he added. The control of the whole of Mariupol would mark a major turning point for Russia, which struggled to occupy large cities after the early occupation of Kherson in the south. Russian President Vladimir Putin is facing domestic pressure to show success in a war that has killed thousands of Russian soldiers, with an unclear toll, and has led to widespread financial difficulties from sanctions. Russia’s eastern axis penetrates more friendly territory where pro-Moscow separatists have fought for years. Analysts say the open ground in the energy-rich industrial area of Donbas is better for Russian troops fighting in civil war, with Ukrainian forces in the lead. “They literally want to end and destroy Donbass. “Destroy everything that once glorified this industrial area,” Zelensky said in a televised speech Sunday. “Just as Russian troops are destroying Mariupol, they want to destroy other cities and communities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.” Ukrainian officials have confirmed that the country’s economic team will meet with representatives of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the US Treasury Department in Washington this week. World Bank officials are planning a $ 3 billion package to support Ukraine. The prime minister said financial aid was needed as the country ran a deficit of $ 5 billion a month. “We need more finances to support our people, our refugees, our internally displaced – to save our economy for a future recovery,” Shmyhal told This Week. World Bank economists recently estimated that Ukraine’s economy could shrink by 45 percent this year, depending on the duration and severity of the conflict. An economic collapse of this magnitude would yield the 11.2% that the Russian economy is expected to shrink at the same time due to unprecedented sanctions and would exacerbate the humanitarian crisis in the region. The European Union is providing another 50m euros ($ 54m) in humanitarian aid as part of its € 1 billion commitment, officials said on Sunday. The money is intended to help people in “inaccessible areas that have been cut off from access to health care, water and electricity, and those who have been forced to leave and leave everything behind,” Janez said. Lenarcic, the crisis management commissioner, said in a statement that the European Union “should be prepared for an escalation of Russian attacks, especially in eastern Ukraine.” Reports of casualties from other parts of eastern Ukraine have continued. In Kharkov, five people were killed and 13 were injured in raids on Sunday, local officials said. He is among the 18 dead and 106 wounded during the Russian bombing of Kharkov in the last four days, Zelensky said on Sunday. Earlier Sunday, Oleh Synyehubov, head of Kharkiv’s regional administration, said three people had been killed and 31 wounded in Russian bombings in the past 24 hours. He appealed to those still in the Kharkiv region to avoid taking to the streets. A partner at the World Central Kitchen restaurant in Kharkov is moving after a rocket hit the building where a group of volunteers were cooking free meals for residents, injuring four staff members, CEO Nate Mook said on Sunday. “This is the reality here – cooking is a heroic act of bravery,” he said on Twitter. The leader of another humanitarian organization described the challenges of obtaining food in various fields. “I have seen places where there is nothing in these warehouses other than food, and this is not even in Mariupol,” David Beasley, head of the UN World Food Program, told Face the Nation. “There is no doubt that food is used as a weapon of war in many different ways here.” The governor of the eastern Luhansk region said on Sunday that Russian bombing had hit a residential area of Zolote, killing two people and wounding four. Local Ukrainian officials also accused Russia of bombing a church in the city of Sheverodonetsk on Sunday. Russian missile strikes continued over the weekend in the Kiev region, even as forces turned east. An attack in the capital on Saturday killed at least one person and injured several others, the mayor said. Another blow hit the Brovary suburb of Kiev. Officials also said Sunday that they had recovered another body from the rubble of an apartment building in Kiev’s Borodyanka suburb that had been bombed earlier this month. The death toll from the attack, which leveled much of the suburb, is expected to rise as authorities investigate the wreckage of two more damaged buildings. In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday, the Ukrainian president said world leaders were failing to keep their promise “never again” after the Holocaust. “We do not believe the words,” Zelensky said. “After the escalation of Russia, we do not trust our neighbors. We do not believe all this. “ Protests against the Russian war in Ukraine …
