In his nightly video address, Zelensky said he had spoken with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson about how best to help those defending Mariupol and the tens of thousands of civilians still trapped there.
“Either our partners give Ukraine all of the necessary heavy weapons, the planes, and without exaggeration immediately, so we can reduce the pressure of the occupiers on Mariupol and break the blockade,” he said. “Or we do so through negotiations, in which the role of our partners should be decisive.”
Zelensky said the situation in Mariupol remains “inhuman” and that Russia “is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that eliminating the last Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol would put an end to peace talks. Credit:Ukrainian Presidential Press Office
The city has endured some of the worst fighting of the war, which has intensified since Russian forces withdrew from around the capital Kyiv and joined the offensive in the east of Ukraine. While many residents have fled via humanitarian corridors, those trapped in the city have been without power, heat or reliable supplies of food or water since soon after the invasion began.
Mariupol became a flashpoint in the war after a maternity hospital and a theatre being used as a bomb shelter were both hit in airstrikes.
Ukrainian emergency employees and volunteers carry an injured pregnant woman from a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine on March 9, 2022. The woman and her baby later died.Credit:AP
In an online post, the Russians said that as of April 16, Ukrainian forces in the besieged port city had lost more than 4,000 people, and that 1,464 Ukrainian servicemen had already surrendered.
Russian forces have been trying for several weeks to take the port, which is on the Sea of Azov, a body of water to the northeast of the Black Sea. The mayor Vadym Boychenko, who has fled the city, said earlier this week that 90 per cent of the city had been destroyed, and estimated that the death toll could be as high as 20,000.
Meanwhile, oligarch Roman Abramovich has travelled to Kyiv in a bid to restart peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, which stalled after evidence emerged of Russian atrocities against civilians.
Abramovich met with Ukrainian negotiators to discuss ways of reviving the negotiations, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Roman Abramovich in the VIP lounge at Israel’s Ben Gurion international airport last month.Credit:Reuters
The Russian billionaire, who has longtime ties to President Vladimir Putin, has been acting as an informal mediator since the war began in late February, when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asked him to get involved.
In an interview with Ukrainska Pravda news site published on Saturday, Zelensky said the talks are at a “dead end because we will not trade our territory and our people”. He said that if Russian forces follow through on a threat to destroy the remaining Ukrainian troops fighting in Mariupol, that may “put an end” to talks.
In Russia, Abramovich “represents the side that backs a diplomatic resolution and end to the war,” he said. “Nobody can guarantee that it isn’t a game.”
A spokesperson for Abramovich declined to comment on whether the tycoon is in Kyiv, as did Ukrainian negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Moscow launched long-range missile attacks across the country over the weekend following the sinking of its Black Sea flagship, Moscow said its warplanes had struck a tank repair factory in Kyiv on Saturday. An explosion was heard and smoke rose over the southeastern Darnytskyi district. The mayor said at least one person was killed and medics were fighting to save others.
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The Ukrainian military said Russian warplanes that took off from Belarus had fired missiles at the Lviv region near the Polish border and four cruise missiles were shot down by Ukrainian air defences.
The western city has been relatively unscathed so far and serves as a haven for refugees and international aid agencies.
The governor of Kharkiv province in the east said at least one person was killed and 18 injured in a missile strike. Smoke billowed from burning cars and the remains of what appeared to be an office building in the city.
In Mykolaiv, a city close to the southern front, Russia said it had struck a military vehicle repair factory.
Reuters, AP, Bloomberg
Russia orders Mariupol’s last defenders to surrender at dawn or die
Source: Philippines Alive
