According to Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the city’s mayor, heavy fighting is still raging in Mariupol on Monday.
He said Russian forces had begun issuing traffic passes in the city and that they had announced that entry and exit routes would be closed on Monday, warning that men who remained in the city would be “filtered”.
This claim could not be confirmed independently, but Andryushchenko and other Ukrainian officials said Russian forces were bombing the Azovstal plant, one of the city’s last bastions, still under Ukrainian control. The Russian military claims to have blocked Ukrainian forces there.
Mihailo Vershinin, chief of the Mariupol patrol police, told CNN that the defenders inside were “ready for fierce resistance”.
“They know what their fate may be, but no one will give up. “Yesterday (the Russians) offered us a ‘corridor’, they wanted us to go out unarmed, through the checkpoints and then surrender,” he said. CNN in voice and text messaging.
“No one agreed with that. No one will leave without weapons,” he added.
‘AD on earth’
Azovstal Ironworks is a sprawling industrial complex in the southeast corner of Mariupol. The complex covers an area of more than four square miles and has used more than 10,000 people. It is unclear how many Ukrainian soldiers are still in the factory.
Vershinin said about 1,000 civilians, including women, children and the elderly, are sheltered at the plant.
“They settled there, they got food and water,” he said. “These people didn’t want to and still don’t want to go out … they knew they had a better chance of staying alive here.”
The commander of the Azov Regiment, one of the units defending the city, said Russian forces were firing on the plant “willingly” while hundreds of people took refuge inside.
“The Russian occupation forces and their representative from the Luhansk People’s Republic / Donetsk People’s Republic know about the civilians and willingly fire at the factory. “They use free-falling bombs, missiles, bunker bombs and all kinds of artillery, both ground and naval, for indiscriminate attacks,” Lt. Col. Denis Prokopenko told the Telegram.
The commander of the Ukrainian Marines in the city said Mariupol was “like hell on earth.”
“When [Azovstal] plant, women with children and babies live in bunkers. In hunger and cold. It is a target of enemy aircraft every day. The wounded die every day because there is no medicine, no water, no food, “said Major Sergei Volina, commander of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade, in an open letter to Pope Francis published on the Ukrainian Pravda website on Monday. .
“The time has come when prayer is not enough,” he added. The pope condemned the war and called for peace in his Easter blessing on Sunday.
Retired CNN lieutenant general and military analyst Mark Hertling said Mariupol was a critical logistics hub. Its strategic position on the shores of the Sea of Azov makes it a key goal. Taking it would allow Russia to build a permanent land bridge from Donbass to Crimea, the peninsula it illegally annexed in 2014.
“Not only does it have roads, but it also has railways and ports,” Hertling said. “It has roads that go in every direction, this time to the east it goes to Rostov-on-Don inside Russia, the roads to the north and northeast go to Luhansk and Donetsk, the roads to the northwest lead to Zaporozhye, and the roads to the south go down to the port city of Berdyansk.
“This next phase of the war will be a battle for logistics. So Mariupol is an extremely important city in the eastern region, which everyone is fighting against. Both sides are fighting over what to control the roads, the other is to prevent road control when you head north. “
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky called the situation in Mariupol “inhuman” and said Russia was “trying to destroy everyone in Mariupol”.
Speaking to CNN last week, he said no one knew how many civilians had died in Mariupol. “Several thousand, tens of thousands were forced to evacuate in the direction of the Russian Federation and we do not know where they are, they have not left a trace of documents,” said Zelensky.
As fighting in Mariupol continues, it is intensifying in other parts of the country. Ukrainian authorities in the Kharkiv and Luhansk regions reported heavy bombardment by Russian forces on Monday, acknowledging the retreat from an important city but saying they had successfully repulsed Russian attacks elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the western city of Lviv, considered a safe haven due to its proximity to the border, was also attacked on Monday. Maxim Kozitsky, Lviv’s regional military governor, said three missile strikes hit military depots not used by the armed forces, and a fourth struck a tire repair shop. Seven people died, he said.
Strategic city, almost extinct
Mariupol has become a symbol of the appalling brutality of Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine. But it is also a symbol of the fierce resistance of Ukrainians facing an enemy that is much more powerful.
It has never been a particularly picturesque city, its silhouette is dominated by steel mills, chemical plants and a port with a shipyard. But significant improvements have been made in recent years. Money invaded and the quality of life improved. The parks have recently been landscaped and small pockets have become cool urban areas.
With the improvements came a sense of pride among its residents. The city is thriving. Just weeks before Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion, people in Mariupol were nervous, but did not believe – or perhaps did not want to – believe that their hometown was in real danger.
Now everything is gone.
Most of the southern city is either destroyed or severely damaged. Photos and footage from drones show that there is hardly a street left untouched by the war. The relentless bombings made it habitable.
Many of its landmarks have disappeared, such as the famous Drama Theater, which was bombed by Russian bombs last month. Its streets, where small cafes and modern restaurants began to appear, are covered with debris and dust.
Approximately 100,000 people remain in Mariupol and its immediate surroundings. They have no way out.
CNN’s Olga Voitovich, Tim Lister, Mike Pratt, Julia Kesaeva and Nathan Hodge contributed to the report.
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