Great pressure surrounds Mariupol

Choking in Mariupol

Russia issues an ultimatum to Ukrainian forces defending in Mariupol must lay down their weapons and leave this city empty-handed at 13:00 on April 17 (ie 17 hours Vietnam time). The deadline has passed and Petro Andriushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, said Ukrainian forces continued to hold the line, protecting the city. Andriushchenko said that the remaining units of Ukraine are not only clustered inside the Azovstal metallurgical plant, now considered the last “fortress” of the Ukrainian army in Mariupol. “The night before, the two sides clashed on Taganrog Road, about 5 kilometers from Azovstal,” according to the adviser.

The Russian armored convoy moves towards Mariupol on April 15 Reuters

After receiving a response from Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry threatened to “obliterate” Ukrainian forces that continued to hold guns in Mariupol. In addition, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said that the Kyiv government ordered the Azov battalion to execute any soldier who laid down his weapon at the request of Russia at the Azovstal factory, according to the news agency. Sputnik. Kyiv has not commented on this information.

Faced with the tense situation in Mariupol, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that any action to neutralize the city’s defense forces threatens bilateral negotiations. The leader also called on countries to immediately supply weapons to Ukraine to protect Mariupol, or intervene to force Russia to continue negotiations.

To date, an estimated 100,000 people are still trapped inside the city and suburbs. Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk urged the Russian side to open a siege and allow the evacuation of civilians from Mariupol. This is a strategic port on the Sea of ​​Azov, the corridor connecting the Crimea peninsula with the breakaway region in eastern Ukraine.

Kyiv region continues to be hit by air strikes

Meanwhile, the surrounding area Kyiv capital continue to receive air strikes. “During the night, high-precision missiles, fired from aircraft, destroyed an ammunition factory near the village of Brovary in Kyiv,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. This is the third strike near the Ukrainian capital in the past few days.

According to Sputnik, the Russian Defense Ministry has just destroyed dozens of facilities military in eastern Ukraine. These include stockpiles of fuel, ammunition and weapons around Severodonetsk, Kremmina, and towns in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Russian air defenses also shot down 10 Ukrainian drones over Donbass. Russia also announced that it had hit a military transport plane carrying weapons supplied by the West to the Odessa region. The Ukrainian side has not commented on this information.

On April 16, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen urged member states to quickly supply arms to Ukraine. At the same time, she suggested the next round of European Union (EU) sanctions targeting Russia’s largest banking system, Sberbank, as well as including an embargo on Russian oil and gas.