“Not heavy enough weapons”
Zelensky considers Mariupol’s liberation impossible

05/08/2022, 10:09 pm

The fighters at the Mariupol Azovstal steelworks make it clear that they do not want to give up. However, President Zelensky currently sees no way to save them. The Ukrainian Armed Forces lack the military resources to liberate the city.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has denied the liberation of the port city of Mariupol, which is held by Russian troops. “Ukraine does not have heavy enough weapons to free Mariupol by military means,” Zelensky said at a news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who traveled to Kyiv today for a solidarity visit.

Zelensky said it was possible to evacuate civilians from the Azovstal steelworks, at least through diplomatic channels. For the remaining Ukrainian troops, however, evacuation will be difficult. “The Russian military, the Russian army, the military leadership and the political leadership of the Russian Federation do not want our soldiers to leave,” the Ukrainian head of state said.

Kyiv has asked Turkey, Israel, France, Switzerland, the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to mediate. Recently, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s largest Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Onufri, asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to allow Ukrainian troops to leave.

The southeastern Ukrainian port of Mariupol has been largely under Russian control for several weeks. Over the weekend, the last stranded civilians were evacuated from the city’s steel mill. Hundreds of Ukrainian defenders are said to be hiding in the plant’s bunkers. He insisted once again this Sunday that he did not want to surrender.