An emotional post from Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade states that they are empty of ammunition and facing death or captivity. Ukrainian authorities reject the allegations. Experts are unsure if the post is genuine.
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During the almost seven-week siege of Russian forces, the port city of Mariupol has been hit by heavy fighting and attacks.
Mariuopol’s rapporteur Vadym Boychenko claimed on Monday that more than 10,000 civilians have lost their lives in the city. He believes the death toll could exceed 20,000.
While Russia is moving most of its troops to eastern Ukraine, the battle for Mariupol has intensified again. The Ukrainian military controls an increasingly smaller part of the strategically important port city.
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On Monday, a post was shared The Facebook page to Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade, which is housed in the large steelworks Azovstal. The experts are divided on whether the post, where this is stated, is genuine:
“We have been defending the city since the start of the war 47 days ago. We have been bombed from planes, we have been shot at with artillery fire, tanks and other weapons. We have defended ourselves with dignity, made the impossible. But all resources tend to run out.
Without the opportunity to defend ourselves, the enemy has pushed us backwards to the steel factory Azovstal. They have surrounded us with fire and are now trying to destroy us. ”
It further states that they have not received the support they need from the Ukrainian defense to win the battle of Mariupol. They estimate that about half have been killed or injured.
According to the post, no one wants to communicate with them anymore. They feel depreciated
“Today will probably be the last battle, because there is no ammunition. Then melee remains. So, for some dead, for others captivity. ”
They ask to be remembered for having done everything they can and that there is no bad talk about the brigade.
“We have done the possible and the impossible.”
– False
Mariupol’s deputy mayor Sergei Orlov rejects BBC that the troops are about to run out of ammunition and will fight “the last battle”.
– The information about the soldiers is false. “I do not comment on false allegations,” he told the BBC.
According to the channel, the experts are divided on whether the message is genuine, or whether the Facebook page may have been hacked by Russians.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, Valery Zaluzhny, wrote on Facebook on Monday that the defense of Mariupol continues:
– The communication with the defense troops who heroically stand in the city is stable and maintained, he writes.
He emphasizes that defensive positions are not discussed in public.
– We do the possible and the impossible to win and save the lives of staff and civilians on all sides.
–Warns about chemical weapons
Monday night, the controversial Azov battalion – which participates in the defense of the city – claims that Russian forces release an unknown, toxic substance from a drone earlier in the evening. The victims are said to have had respiratory failure, they write.
The messages are not verified by independent sources.
It is unclear what type of drug it is and what severe symptoms it can cause.
Deputy leader of the breakaway republic of Donetsk’s defense, Eduard Basurin, said on Monday RIA Novosti that they need “chemical troops” to fight Ukrainian forces in Mariupol – something that Ukrainian media interprets as a threat on the use of chemical weapons.
British intelligence warned on Monday that Russia could use phosphorus bombs in Mariupol. An intelligence source claims that Russia has already used phosphorus bombs in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, according to several media outlets such as The Times and Bloomberg.
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