The Russian military estimates that 2,500 Ukrainian fighters are holding on to a massive steel plant with underground corridors in the last pocket of resistance in Mariupol. Moscow set a deadline for their surrender at noon, saying those who laid down their arms “had their lives guaranteed”. But the defenders did not submit, just as they rejected the previous ultimatums.
Read more: Russia warns Ukraine to lay down arms in Mariupol “to stop hostilities”
“We will fight to the end for victory in this war,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Smihal vowed on ABC’s “This Week.” He said Ukraine was ready to end the war through diplomacy, if possible, “but we have no intention of giving up.” The story goes on under the ad The occupation of Mariupol would free Russian forces to take part in an expected full-scale offensive to take control of Donbass, the industrial area in the east of the country where the Kremlin has focused its military objectives, after abandoning, at least for now, any attempt. takeover Kyiv, the capital. 2:13 What is behind the decisions of some countries to remain neutral in Russia’s war with Ukraine? What lies behind the decisions of some countries to remain neutral in Russia’s war with Ukraine? The relentless bombing and street fighting in Mariupol has left much of the city in dust and killed at least 21,000 people, according to Ukrainian estimates. A maternity hospital was hit by a deadly Russian airstrike in the first weeks of the war and about 300 people were killed by the bombing of a theater where civilians were taking refuge. An estimated 100,000 remained in the city from a pre-war population of 450,000, trapped without food, water, heat or electricity in a siege that has made Mariupol the scene of the worst of the war. The story goes on under the ad 2:41 Civilian deaths rise in Ukraine as Russia resumes attacks on major cities Civilian deaths in Ukraine rise as Russia resumes attacks on major cities “Anyone who continues the resistance will be destroyed,” said Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, announcing the latest ultimatum. He said the intercepted communications showed that there were about 400 foreign mercenaries along with Ukrainian troops at the Azovstal steel plant, a claim that could not be independently verified.
Read more: Ukrainian Zelenskyy says the situation in Mariupol remains extremely serious
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar described Mariupol as a “shield defending Ukraine” as Russian troops prepare for battle in Donbas, where Moscow-backed separatists are already controlling some territory. As a reminder that no part of Ukraine is safe, Russian forces carried out rocket attacks Sunday near Kyiv and elsewhere in an apparent attempt to weaken Ukraine’s military capability ahead of the impending attack. The story goes on under the ad 1:00 Pope Francis condemns the “darkness of war” in Ukraine during the Easter vigil After the humiliating loss of the Black Sea Fleet flagship in what the Ukrainians boasted was a missile attack, the Russian army pledged on Friday to intensify the blows in the capital. The Kremlin announced Sunday that it had attacked an ammunition factory near Kyiv overnight with precision-guided missiles, the third such strike in several days. Trending Stories
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Russia has also claimed to have destroyed Ukrainian air defense radar equipment in the east near Sievierodonetsk, as well as several ammunition depots elsewhere. Explosions were reported overnight in Kramatorsk, the eastern city where rockets killed at least 57 people earlier this month at a train station full of civilians trying to flee before the Russian attack.
Read more: Pope calls for peace in Ukraine in Easter speech, cites “alarming” risk of nuclear war
The story goes on under the ad A regional official in eastern Ukraine said at least two people had been killed when Russian forces opened fire on homes in the town of Zolote, near the front line in Donbas. Malyar, the deputy defense minister, said the Russians had continued to strike Mariupol with airstrikes and could be preparing for an amphibious landing to bolster their ground forces. The capture of the city would be Russia’s biggest victory after two months of costly fighting and could help reassure the Russian public amid the deteriorating economic situation from Western sanctions. It will allow Russia to secure a land route to the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and deprive Ukraine of a major port and valuable industrial assets. 1: 181 dead, 18 wounded by Russian missile strike in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine 1 dead, 18 wounded by a Russian rocket attack in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine The capture of Mariupol would also make more troops available for the offensive in the east, which, if successful, would give Russian President Vladimir Putin a vital part of the country and a much-needed victory he could sell to the Russian people. The story goes on under the ad The tunnels in the vast Azovstal steel plant, which covers an area of more than 11 square kilometers (over 4.2 square miles), allowed the defenders to hide and resist. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the fall of Mariupol could overturn any attempt at peace through negotiations. “The destruction of all our children in Mariupol – what they are doing now – can put an end to any form of negotiation,” Zelensky told Ukrainian journalists.
Read more: Here’s why Russia is following Mariupol – and why it may not be the game change it once was
In his overnight speech to the nation, Zelensky called on the West to send more heavy weapons immediately if there is a possibility of saving the city, adding that Russia is “deliberately trying to destroy everyone there.” Austrian Chancellor Carl Nehammer, who met with Putin in Moscow this week – the first European leader to do so since the February 24 invasion – said the Russian president was “in his own war logic” for Ukraine. In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press”, Nehammer said he believed Putin believed he was winning the war and “we have to look him in the eye and face him with what we see in Ukraine.” The story goes on under the ad Like Mariupol, the northeastern city of Kharkiv has been under attack since the early days of the invasion and has seen conditions worsen before the eastern offensive. At least five people were killed and 13 were injured in Russian bombings in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, on Sunday, regional officials said. 2:16 Canada Deploys Troops in Poland to Assist Ukrainian Refugees Canada Deploys Troops in Poland to Assist Ukrainian Refugees The barrage crashed into apartment buildings, leaving streets strewn with broken glass and other debris, including part of at least one rocket. Firefighters and residents tried to extinguish the flames in several apartments. Zelensky estimated that 2,500 to 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the war. In the midst of the conflict, Zelensky spoke in his overnight speech about Ukraine’s plans for a monument “to remind all generations of our people of the brutal and irrational invasion that Ukraine could repel.” The story goes on under the ad Pope Francis made an agonizing call on Easter Sunday for peace in the “pointless” war in Ukraine. “May there be peace in war-torn Ukraine, which is suffering so much from the violence and destruction of this cruel and irrational war in which it has been dragged,” Francis said, without mentioning Putin’s decision to invade. “Please, please, let’s not get used to the war,” Francis begged. Chernov reported from Kharkov. Yesica Fisch in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, and Associated Press reporters around the world contributed to this report. © 2022 The Canadian Press
