Russia started its attack on the last Ukrainian soldiers trapped in a massive steelworks in Mariupol, only days after Moscow claimed victory in the southern city and said that its forces did not need to seize the factory.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, said the country’s army was not prepared to attempt to breach the siege of the port city.
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He did, however, say that America’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will pay a visit to Kyiv on Sunday to discuss the sorts of armaments Ukraine needs as Russia’s incursion approaches its third month.
“As soon as we have (enough weaponry), as soon as there are enough of them, believe me, we will immediately retake this or that territory, which is temporarily occupied,” Zelenskyy said at a Saturday evening press conference.
Blinken and Austin’s trip intentions have not been confirmed by the White House. The Pentagon and the State Department refused to comment.
For weeks, the assault on Mariupol has raged. Capturing the city is critical to Russia’s efforts to connect the eastern Donbas area to Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014.
For years, separatists supported by Moscow have controlled territory in the Donbas area.
Ukraine reports that tens of thousands of people have been murdered in Mariupol and that another 100,000 remain. According to the UN and Red Cross, the civilian death toll is at least in the hundreds.
On Saturday, a second effort to evacuate citizens failed, according to an assistant to Mariupol’s mayor.
At least eight individuals were murdered in the Black Sea port of Odesa, Zelenskyy reported. On Saturday, the Ukrainian armed forces stated, two missiles targeted a military installation and two residential structures, destroying two more.
At least eight individuals were murdered in the Black Sea port of Odesa, Zelenskyy reported. On Saturday, the Ukrainian armed forces stated, two missiles targeted a military installation and two residential structures, destroying two more.
Independent verification of the death toll was not possible. The most recent major strike in or around Odesa occurred in early April.
Before daybreak on Sunday, air raid sirens were sounded in Odesa and Mykolaiv, a city on the Black Sea, but there were no immediate reports of further assaults.
Russia has denied targeting civilians in its “special military operation” that began on February 24. The Russian defense ministry said it used high-precision missiles to destroy a logistics terminal in Odesa.
It also said Russian forces had killed up to 200 Ukrainian troops and destroyed more than 30 vehicles.
Russia’s defense ministry on Friday said Mariupol’s last fighters had been “securely blockaded” at the steel plant.
Brown Stone contributed reporting, and MarkAnthony Nze, Ph.D. edited the piece for Africa Daily News, New York.
