The last Ukrainian fighters entrenched in Mariupol have appealed desperately to the international community for rescue.
“This is our call to the world, this may well be the last call of our lives. We may be living our last days, even our last hours. The enemy is ten times more numerous than us. It has the advantage in the air, in the artillery, in its ground forces, in terms of equipment and tanks,” said Serguiy Volyna, of the 36th brigade of the national navy, on the social network Facebook.
“We call on and beg all world leaders to help us. We ask them to use the extraction procedure and take us to the territory of a third country,” he added. At the same time, Russia claimed that a “humanitarian corridor” had been opened to allow Ukrainian forces wishing to withdraw from combat to exit Mariupol.
The evacuation of civilians
On the evening of Tuesday, April 19, Volodymyr Zelensky launched an appeal on social networks and he asked for the evacuation of civilians who are still in the Ukrainian city. “The situation in Mariupol remains the same, as critical as it can be. The Russian army is blocking all efforts to organize humanitarian corridors and save our people,” the Ukrainian president said in a video on his Facebook page. This Wednesday, April 20, an agreement on an evacuation corridor for civilians from Mariupol was reached, kyiv announced.
Russia has asked the Ukrainian military forces defending Mariupol to surrender. They also recalled that they were determined to seize this port which would allow the Russians to make the connection between Crimea and Donbass.
