The city is of great strategic importance
The strategic port of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine has been blocked by the Russian military following “ruthless” attacks. This was said by the mayor of the city, quoted by AFP.
“For now, we are looking for solutions to humanitarian problems and all possible ways to get Mariupol out of the blockade,” Vadim Boychenko said in a statement posted around midnight local time in the mayor’s office’s Telegram account.
According to him, the main priority is a ceasefire in order to restore vital infrastructure, as well as to create a humanitarian corridor for the import of food and medicine in the city.
The takeover from Moscow of this 450,000-strong city on the shores of the Sea of Azov will be an important turning point in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This would make it possible to establish a link between Russian forces coming from annexed Crimea, which have already taken over the key ports of Berdyansk and Kherson, as well as separatist and Russian troops in Donbas.
“For five days, our hometown, our family of half a million, has been under relentless attack,” Boychenko wrote, calling for continued resistance. According to him, units of the Ukrainian army, the National Guard, the ultranationalist regiment Azov, border guards and marines defended the city.
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Source: BGNES
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