Ukraine’s last troops in the port city of Mariupol face a brutal final battle Sunday with besieged Russian forces, hoping to achieve a critical victory before the country’s victory day.
President Vladimir Zelensky also needs to hold talks with G7 leaders via video conference to discuss the situation in his country, which fears a resumption of the Moscow offensive following the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant.
The complex – the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the devastated port city – has acquired symbolic value in the war, with the last soldiers hiding in tunnels and bunkers.
Taking full control of Mariupol would allow Moscow to build a land bridge between the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014, and regions ruled by pro-Russian separatists.
“The enemy is trying to finish off Azovstal’s defenders, they are trying to do it before May 9 to give (Russian President) Vladimir Putin a gift,” said Alexei Arestovich, an aide to Ukraine’s president.
Add Comment