Mariupol on the verge of defeat?

Yesterday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that more than 1,000 soldiers of the 36th Marine brigade of Ukraine had surrendered in Mariupol, a strategic port city in the east of the country. Ukraine.

The scene of ruins at Mariupol on April 12 AFP

According to TASS, of the 1,026 Ukrainian soldiers who laid down their weapons, there were 162 officers and 47 female soldiers. More than 100 soldiers were wounded at the time of surrender. Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said there was no information about the surrender of the marine brigade in Mariupol.

Western analyzes suggest that Russia is seeking to establish a land corridor connecting the Crimean peninsula (incorporated into Russia in 2014) with the separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in the Donbass recognized by Moscow as a “community” independent peace”. Therefore, from the very beginning of the campaign military especially Russia since February 24, Mariupol in the Donbass has always been the target of siege. In a report on the morning of April 13, the General Staff of Ukraine said that Russian forces continued to bombard the Azovstal alloy factory and the port of Mariupol.

Meanwhile, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said it was closely monitoring the development of the war in Ukraine after a source accused Russia of using chemical weapons in Mariupol. Addressing the Estonian parliament yesterday, President Zelensky said that the Russian troops used phosphorus bombs. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington had “reliable sources” that Russia “probably deployed chemical weapons” in the Ukrainian port city.

Faced with the above accusations, the Russian embassy in the US asked Washington to stop spreading false information as above. Moscow destroyed its last stockpile of chemical weapons in 2017, and so it is impossible for Russia to use it chemical weapons anywhere. Also yesterday, the US President Joe Biden for the first time used the word “genocide” for Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. For his part, Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed that the country will continue to deploy “calmly and smoothly” the operation and will achieve the goals as originally set.

On the same day, Governor Oleh Synegubov of the northeastern region of Kharkov said that at least 7 people were killed and 22 others were injured in Russian artillery shelling within 24 hours. This shows that fighting is still going on in Kharkov. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that it was not yet possible to open any humanitarian corridors and accused Russian forces of violating the ceasefire, preventing buses from evacuating civilians.

Yesterday, the four presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia traveled by train to Kyiv to meet their counterpart Zelensky. Reuters quoted Estonian President’s spokesman Alar Karis as saying the visit was focused on finding ways to support civilians and the military.