Russia orders Mariupol soldiers to surrender by Sunday morning as they continue their relentless attack on the city. Russian Defense Ministry ordered “without exception” all “Ukrainian armed units and foreign mercenaries” must exit from 6:00 a.m. to 1:00 PM Moscow time “without any weapons and ammunition.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zekensky late Saturday said “the situation in Mariupol remains as severe as possible. Just inhuman.”
“Russia is deliberately trying to destroy everyone who is there in Mariupol,” he said in his latest video address.
“There are only two ways to influence this,” Zelensky said. “Either our partners will give Ukraine all the necessary heavy weapons, planes, and, without exaggeration, immediately… Or a negotiating path, in which the role of partners should also be decisive.”
Zelensky said solutions are being sought. “Military or diplomatic – anything to save people. But finding this solution is extremely difficult.”
“Although we have heard many intentions from those who wanted to help and who are really in positions of international influence, none of them have been realized yet.” he added.
“Today I held a meeting dedicated to the reconstruction of our cities,” he said. “Of course, this is a huge amount of work. But still less than defending the state in war.”
The president added, “Now it is a historic moment; the moment when we can solve many old problems of the whole environment of our life once and for all.”
Zelensky addressed the housing situation and what he called the “real modernization of our cities.”
“Millions of people know how difficult it is to get a home, earn money for their own apartment, build a house… Today, I set a task to provide temporary housing to all our IDPs [internally displaced.]…Those whose house was destroyed by war. Temporary housing until we rebuild their homes.”