Russia relaunches attacks against Ukrainian cities including Mariupol and Kharkiv. Ukrainian soldiers will “fight till the end” to defend their homeland.
Mariupol has endured heavy shelling for the past few weeks as the Russian forces encircle the city. The Russians gave an order yesterday to lay down arms and surrender the city. The Ukrainian forces defiantly rejected the order and will “fight until the end”.
The city is estimated to have about 100,000 civilians and 22,000 fatalities since the bombings began. Due to its isolation, the numbers could not be further verified.
Today, the Russian forces distributed passes in Mariupol to control the entry and exit of the city. The mayor’s adviser, Petro Andriushchenko reported the development. “Hundreds of citizens have to stand in a line to get a pass, without which it will be impossible not only to move between the districts of the city but also to go out on the streets starting next week,” he said.
The Head of the Kharkiv regional administration, Oleg Synegubov provided updates on the situation in Kharkiv. “Today, in broad daylight, there were shellings of the central part of the city, the residential area of Saltivka from MLRS [multiple rocket systems] and artillery. Unfortunately, 20 people were injured, and 5 people were killed. Apartment buildings and other civilian infrastructure were damaged.”
The city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov said that the Russian soldiers have not given up on “attempts to destroy the civilian population of Kharkiv, sow panic in the city and break our spirit. Still, the will of Kharkiv, the will of us Ukrainians, cannot be harmed by the enemy. Today, I was convinced of this when I saw how a medic covered a wounded woman during the shelling.”