Ukraine’s elite brigade in Mariupol ‘determines final battle’

Pro-Russian forces go through house-to-house checks in Mariupol on April 7 – Photo: REUTERS

The city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine has been surrounded by Russian and pro-Russian forces for more than 40 days. Even from March 23, Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency quoted a pro-Russian source as saying that they had completely neutralized the 36th Marine Brigade at the Mariupol front.

According to the newspaper Le Mondeon April 11, the 36th Marine Brigade – the unit that has mainly fought on the Donbass line in the Mariupol area since 2015 – wrote on Facebook as follows: “Today may be the last battle. because we’ve run out of ammunition. Maybe some of us will die and others will be captured.”

“We don’t know what’s going to happen, but we sincerely hope that everyone remembers us well. For over a month we have been fighting without ammunition, without food, no drinking water”, the article stated.

The source also said that half of the brigade’s force was wounded.

Meanwhile, Mr. Oleksiy Arestovich – an adviser to the President of Ukraine, also admitted that the country’s army will not be able to liberate the city of Mariupol.

In a statement broadcast on YouTube on the evening of April 10, the adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “I am the first to have the courage to say that the Ukrainian forces could not liberate Mariupol, now it is not possible in terms of military”.

According to Reuters news agency, the Russian military has adjusted its forces to gather troops in eastern Ukraine with the determination to “liberate the Donbass region”. But British intelligence on April 11 said Ukrainian forces had repelled many attacks by Russian and pro-Russian forces.

The mayor of Kiev is not satisfied

On ABC, the mayor of Kiev, Vitali Klitschko, did not rule out the possibility of Russian troops returning to capture the Ukrainian capital. The political leader, who was a heavyweight boxing champion, explained: “The withdrawal of Russian forces from Kiev does not mean that our enemies have given up their intention to occupy the capital. So we cannot rule it out. The second intention is to ‘take Kiev in two days’. Our capital needs to continue to defend.”

In the same interview, Vitali’s younger brother, Wladimir Klitschko, called on the world to continue to give arms and punish Russia. “We need weapons. We can’t defend our country with our fists,” Wladimir – also a heavyweight boxing champion – said.