Ukraine’s military said Russian forces had connected a land corridor between the Crimean peninsula and the eastern province of Donetsk, but gave no further details.
“The enemy partially managed to connect the land corridor between the temporarily occupied Crimea and the Donetsk region,” the Defense Ministry said. Ukraine said in a post posted on social media today.
Notification given 10 days after Russia announced that it had cleared the land corridor between the Crimean peninsula and the Donbass region, including the two regions of Donetsk and Lugansk controlled by the separatists. “The road from Crimea to Mariupol is under control,” said Georgy Muradov, deputy prime minister of the Republic of Crimea, on March 14.
Mariupol is a city strategically located on the Azov coast and has been the target of a siege by Russian troops since early March.
Ukrainian separatist militias drive armored vehicles in Mariupol, southern Ukraine, on March 24. Photo: Reuters.
related Ria Novosti said the land corridor provided a strategic route that would allow Russian troops in Crimea to join the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), as well as allow Russian-backed forces access to important port city areas along the Sea of Azov.
Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of the Russian Republic of Chechnya, said yesterday that his troops had “taken over the municipal government building of Mariupol and raised the flag there”, adding that the Ukrainian defense units did not fight back and had left their positions. Ukraine has not commented on this issue.
The conflict in Ukraine has shown no signs of abating since Russia launched a military operation on February 24. Moscow and Kiev have carried out several rounds of negotiations since the outbreak of the conflict, with active help from a number of countries that have good relations with both sides, but have yet to find a common voice on a peace deal.
Location of the Crimean peninsula and the city of Mariupol in the Donbass region. graphic: Google Earth.
Vu Anh (Based on Reuters)
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