KYIV POST
By Stefan Korshak.
Published April 11 at 1:47 pm
Sviatoslav Palamar, Vice Commander of the Azov National Guard Regiment
Fighters in Mariupol said they are running critically short of food, ammunition and medical supplies in the face of a looming Russian assault, as a senior Ukrainian government official said getting help to the besieged Azov port city is impossible, news reports and official statements said on Monday, April 11.
Sviatoslav Palamar, Vice Commander of the Azov National Guard Regiment, a backbone unit in a force of several thousand Ukraine Armed Forces (UAF) combatants manning Mariupol’s defenses, said fighters have neither received neither food, ammunition nor reinforcements from the central government for more than two weeks.
National army command has effectively abandoned the idea of even attempting to relieve the Russian Federation (RF) siege of Mariupol, and in recent weeks the only thing the generals in Kyiv have offered Mariupol defenders, is the suggestion they resupply themselves by capturing food and weapons from a massively superior RF attack force, Palamar said, in a video statement widely distributed in Ukrainian independent and social media.
Presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovych in a Sunday interview published by the government said UAF forces are too far away from Mariupol and too weak to attempt the break the RF siege, in progress since the fourth day of the war. At least 5,000 civilians have died and at least 200,000 have become refugees during battles in and around the city, according to Mariupol city government statements.
Were the UAF to attempt to send a relief force, RF ground attack jets and helicopters would annihilate it well before it reached Mariupol, Arestovych said. In previous weeks UAF low-flying helicopters had been able to deliver limited amounts of ammunition and remove the worst-wounded, but increasingly effective RF air defenses have made that supply route impossible, he said.
An unconfirmed Telegram statement attributed to 36 Marine Brigade, the main UAF regular army unit in Mariupol, claimed Mariupol defense forces proposed Kyiv leadership a number of possible plans for defenders to break out of the city during March, but the suggestions were ignored.
RF forces are preparing to launch a major offensive in the east of Mariupol with the objective of capturing the Azov steel factory, long a key strong point in the UAF defense network, the statement said.
A Monday situation estimate by British Army intelligence said a renewed RF offensive in Mariupol was likely. Chances that RF forces will attack using phosphorus shells – a incendiary weapon banned by the Geneva
convention because it will set human flesh on fire – are increasing, the estimate said.
The impending RF assault is also likely to target Mariupol’s port and resort beach waterfront, in an attempt to bottle up Mariupol defenders in the center of the city, a Monday situation estimate from Ukraine’s Army General Staff (AGS) said.
“Were the UAF to attempt to send a relief force, RF ground attack jets and helicopters would annihilate it well before it reached Mariupol….”
This is unacceptable. Ukraine’s allies must deploy the equaliser: air power and wipe out the invaders.
Ukraine can’t afford to lose Mariupol or Kherson.
Telegraph today :
“Volodymyr Zelensky has said he believes “tens of thousands” of people have been killed in the besieged city of Mariupol.
Speaking to South Korea’s National Assembly by video link, the Ukrainian President said Russia had “completely destroyed” the southern port city which has witnessed some of the fiercest fighting of the war.
“The Russians completely destroyed Mariupol and burned it to ashes. At least tens of thousands of Mariupol citizens must have been killed.”
The estimate has not yet been independently verified.
Mr Zelensky added that the coming week will be crucial ahead of an expected Russian offensive in the east of the country.
“Russian troops will move to even larger operations in the east of our state,” he said.”
Genocide cannot go unanswered. There must be a complete overhaul of the strategy of Ukraine’s allies.
This time NOTHING must be taken off the table.
The demonic evil of the putinazi regime can no longer be tolerated.
I think this is extremely painful, but I think if the Ukrainian army would have been able to create a corridor to Mariupol, they would have done it.
I think the Ukrainian Armed Forces currently focus on the area around Charkiv and retaking the Kherson area. Furthermore, Ukraine’s highest problem is the risk that Russia manages to encircle the JFO area in which there are ten thousands of soldiers holding the line in the Donbas.
Mariupol is just too difficult, as the area East has several defense layers and the nearest area Ukraine controls is dozens of kilometers away.
I think Mariupol currently is not one of the main problems for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. I think when Kharkiv is secured and the risk of having the JFO lines encircled has been reduced, we might expect a counter offensive in the area north of Mariupol.
At this point I think Ukraine must accept the loss of Mariupol for now, even though this will lead to civilian and military losses, but it does not mean the war will be lost.
If Russia manages to encircle the JFO area, the war will be lost as the lion share of Ukrainian men and equipment are located there. So that will be priority no. 1.
I do think Ukraine does an excellent job, but the war cannot be won without accepting some temporary losses.
And yes, I am deeply hurt by the loss of Mariupol, it really keeps me awake at night.
I agree with your assessment, Bert. I think that the brave defenders of Mariupol know all of this too. It also pains me to see the city and its awesome fighters be lost to the criminal vomit army of mafia land.
Yes. It is so painful to see these brave and heroic fighters being left on their own, probably left to die or to be captured and tortured.
On another note, the situation in Mariupol is not over just yet. Although it might be appropriate to expect the end for this city and its brave fighters one day, the battle goes on.