Defenders in Mariupol are desperately short on supplies and may lose control of the city within days, Ukrainian military officials said Wednesday as Russian invaders ramped up a nonstop bombardment of the strategically vital port city and inched closer to what would be the first major prize in Moscow’s 2-month-old war.
Ukrainian troops remained holed up deep inside the city’s sprawling steel plant complex and its network of underground tunnels, refusing to surrender despite slim chances for victory. Russian troops pounded the facility throughout the day as President Vladimir Putin issued stark warnings to Ukraine and its Western allies about an intercontinental ballistic missile system that he said is the most advanced in the world.
The stubborn resistance in Mariupol is giving Ukrainian forces time to entrench and reinforce troops in defensive lines in the country’s Donbas region, where Ukrainian and pro-Russian separatist forces have been battling to a stalemate for eight years. Russian forces have turned their full attention to the campaign in the south and east of Ukraine. The first forays after the Feb. 24 invasion failed to take the capital of Kyiv or other major urban targets.
Facing the full weight of the Russian war machine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his personnel need heavier weapons to stand a fighting chance. Mr. Zelenskyy said there are two ways the standoff in Mariupol could end.
“First, it involves serious and heavy weapons. … At the moment, we don’t have enough of these weapons to free Mariupol. The second path is diplomatic. So far, Russia hasn’t agreed to this,” the Ukrainian leader said, as quoted by CNN and other English-language media outlets.
“We don’t know when we can unblock Mariupol. And I say this openly, that all the boys in Mariupol want our victory, they want a free city. None of them are going to surrender to the enemy. This is their internal feeling, this is what they are,” he said.
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With tens of thousands of civilians trapped in Mariupol, Ukraine rushed to establish a humanitarian corridor and provide an escape from the devastated city. Ukrainian leaders said they reached a preliminary deal with Russian forces to allow for such a corridor, but previous evacuation agreements quickly collapsed. It was not clear late Wednesday whether the latest deal would hold.
On a day when the Biden administration announced yet another round of sanctions on Russian individuals, banks and, in a first, a cryptocurrency “mining” company, U.N. officials announced a grim milestone for the war: The number of Ukrainians who have fled the country because of the fighting climbed past 5 million, marking the largest movement of refugees in Europe since World War II.
The United Nations’ lead refugee agency said some 90% of those who have left are women and children. Mr. Zelenskyy’s government has not allowed men of military age to leave the country.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki outlined an aggressive series of military supply flights to Ukraine. She said the Biden administration is working “around the clock” to meet Ukrainian military needs in light of the Kremlin’s strategy shift.
“We made a strategic decision given we’ve seen Russia reposition their troops and their military to the eastern part of Ukraine to fight a different kind of war on the ground, which will be more shooting back and forth through long range,” Ms. Psaki said. “We have been working with Ukrainians and the Ukrainian military to determine exactly the kind of security assistance they need for this stage of the war.”
Charles Michel, the head of the European Union’s executive arm, became the latest Western dignitary to visit Kyiv to witness the devastation wrought by the fighting. Mr. Michel met with Mr. Zelenskyy and toured the suburb of Borodyanka, where Ukrainian authorities have charged that now-departed Russian troops carried out atrocities, something Moscow denies.
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“History will not forget the war crimes that have been committed here,” Mr. Michel said in a post on Twitter.
Capturing Mariupol would be a hugely important and badly needed symbolic win for a Russian army that has been plagued by embarrassing missteps and logistical failures. Since giving up on the campaign to capture Kyiv, Russian troops have reorganized in the disputed Donbas region for an all-out assault on eastern Ukraine.
A victory in Mariupol would allow Moscow to create a land bridge between the Donbas and the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia forcibly annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The fall of the city also would mark a major psychological blow for Ukrainian troops, who have stunned the world over the past eight weeks by more than holding their own against the much larger and better-armed Russian force.
Russian commanders seem to have learned from mistakes and are targeting Ukrainian supply lines to cut off Mariupol’s defenders from the rest of the country.
“Russian attacks on cities across Ukraine show their intent to disrupt the movement of Ukrainian reinforcements and weaponry to the east of the country,” the British Defense Ministry said in a Twitter post.
Russian officials said they delivered to Kyiv a draft document outlining their demands to end the conflict.
“The ball is in their court. We’re waiting for a response,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
It’s not clear what is contained in those documents. Ukrainian officials said they were reviewing the proposal.
Saber-rattling
Mr. Putin engaged in some more of his trademark saber-rattling by touting the test of Russia’s new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile system. Mr. Putin watched footage of the test launch before congratulating his armed forces and issuing another warning to Ukraine, the U.S. and NATO.
“I congratulate you on the successful launch of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile. It is a great and landmark event in the development of advanced weapon systems in the Russian army,” Mr. Putin said, according to his country’s state-run Tass news agency.
“It has no analogs in the world and will not have any for a long time to come. This truly unique weapon will bolster the combat capabilities of our armed forces, will reliably safeguard Russia’s security from external threats and will make those who in the frenzy of rabid and aggressive rhetoric are trying to threaten our country think twice,” he said.
Russia gave U.S. officials advance notice of the launch in line with the New START nuclear arms control treaty between Moscow and Washington, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters, according to The Associated Press.
“Russia properly notified the United States under its New START obligations that it planned to test this ICBM,” he said. “Such testing is routine. It was not a surprise. We did not deem the test to be a threat to the United States or its allies.”
Mr. Putin said the Sarmat system was built using only Russian parts, meaning its production and eventual deployment will be shielded from global sanctions imposed by the West on the Russian economy.
For Moscow, such an approach will likely be necessary for years to come as the U.S. and its NATO allies look to isolate the Russian economy as much as possible. That international effort was on clear display Wednesday when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and top finance officials from Britain and Canada walked out of a Group of 20 meeting in Washington as Russian representatives began speaking.
Ukrainian officials also walked out of the gathering, Reuters reported, citing unidentified sources.
British finance minister Rishi Sunak confirmed the high-level walkout in a Twitter post.
“Earlier my representatives, along with U.S. & Canadian counterparts left today’s G20 meeting in Washington as Russian delegates spoke,” he wrote. “We are united in our condemnation of Russia’s war against Ukraine and will push for stronger international coordination to punish Russia.”
In Ukraine, the situation remains so dire that the head of the Orthodox Church said believers should not take part in Easter services in areas of the country affected by fighting. He said he had little faith that Russian forces would honor any cease-fire to mark Eastern Orthodox celebrations this weekend, Reuters reported.
The Orthodox Easter service starts late Saturday into Sunday morning, when a traditional feast begins.
“It is hard to believe this will really happen because the enemy is trying to completely destroy us,” Metropolitan Epifaniy said in a televised address.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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