Mariupol situation on April 23: Russia makes another offer at the Azovstal plant; opportunity for Russia to go further

Russia makes another offer

Ukrainian troops and members of the Azov battalion besieged in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol can still surrender to the Russian army, the Defense Ministry said on Friday.

A day earlier, Russia announced that it had liberated Mariupol, while President Vladimir Putin demanded a halt to the offensive inside the Azovstal factory, which remains the last hold of Ukrainian forces in this strategic port city. . The Russian military should “block off the area so that flies can’t get through,” Putin ordered.

In its latest statement, the Russian Defense Ministry indicated that the offer to surrender to those inside the facility remained in place. “At any moment, Russia is ready to issue a ceasefire to conduct the evacuation of civilians (if they are really in the underground structures of steel mills) and soldiers of the armed forces of Ukraine and Azov battalions”.

The commander of the Ukrainian marines, who is holed up at the plant, had previously stated that “hundreds” of civilians were trapped inside. He did not explain why the people voluntarily decided to hide with the Ukrainian army.

Ukrainian fighters and foreign mercenaries only need to raise a white flag along the perimeter of Azovstal to surrender. “This humanitarian offer of Russia remains in force 24/7,” according to the latest statement of the Russian Defense Ministry.

The lives of these people will be guaranteed and they will also receive medical assistance – just like the Ukrainian fighters who surrendered before, the Russian side emphasized.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also said in a phone call with European Council President Charles Michel that all fighters on the territory of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol will be saved if they agree to give up their weapons.

According to the Ministry of Defense, humanitarian corridors organized by Russian forces in Mariupol have allowed the evacuation of 143,631 Ukrainian civilians, 341 foreign citizens as well as 1,844 Ukrainian servicemen.

Those numbers are evidence that claims by Ukraine and the West that Russia is hindering the evacuation of civilians or is reluctant to provide the necessary conditions for the fighters to surrender are completely baseless.

According to Russian estimates, about 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers currently hiding at the Azovstal steel plant have been given the opportunity to lay down their weapons in recent days, but they have turned down the offer.

Intercepted communications from the steel mill indicate that the Ukrainian army and the fighters of the nationalist battalion are short of food and water. They wanted to surrender but were unable to do so without an order from Kiev for fear of being brought to court.

On April 21, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that there is still “one way” for Ukraine to win in Mariupol, which is the military support of its partners.

“Opportunity for Russia to go far”

Alexander Mikhailov, a military-political analyst said that,The siege rather than attack on the Azovstal factory in Mariupol, among other things, was an opportunity for the Russian army to move forward in the liberation of Donbass.

“This is an opportunity to go further. While Russia was surrounding Azovstal, the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Western officials at the time were spreading a completely different agenda in the media sphere. that: Russia is bogged down in Mariupol, unable to take it, the Russian army is not capable of solving this military task, that is, they constantly discredit the Russian army. , in my opinion, there is a very important task that is to block Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea, to prevent Ukraine from restoring its navy,” said Alexander Mikhailov.

Peace talks stalled

Russia will not accept any ultimatum from Kiev, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced on Friday, April 22. “You know, we don’t accept any ultimatums. I can’t standardize President Zelensky’s statements in any way. I’m not sure that he’s aware he’s talking about what,” the Russian foreign minister said at a press conference in Moscow.

“Now the negotiations have stalled, because five days ago the next proposal that we passed to the Ukrainian negotiators was made taking into account their comments received at the time. that point, remains unanswered,” Lavrov said after talks with Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi.