Writing on Facebook, the 36th Brigade said that the 47-day defense of Mariupol had reached a tragic end. “We were bombed by planes and artillery and tanks. We did everything possible and impossible. “But any resource has the potential to be depleted,” he said. Russian troops have been besieging the city in the Sea of Azov since early March. The territory controlled by the Ukrainian forces has gradually shrunk in some central areas. The surviving Marines are now at the Azovstal Iron and Steel Plant next to the port. “The enemy pushed us away gradually. “They surrounded us with fire and now they are trying to destroy us,” the marines said. The “mountain of wounded” rose to almost half the brigade, they added, with those “whose members have not been uprooted” continuing to fight. Their infantry soldiers had all been killed. The “gun battles” against the Russians were now being carried out by artillery and anti-aircraft gunners, as well as radios, drivers and cooks. Even musicians from the orchestra were fighting, they said. The desperate latest bulletin came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia had “destroyed” Mariupol. “There are tens of thousands dead. “Even so, the Russians are not stopping their attack,” he told the South Korean parliament. Zelensky said it was too early for Ukraine to say it had won the battle for Kyiv, given the scale of the suffering of civilians living in Russian-occupied areas on the outskirts of the capital’s garden. “Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel – if their people [towns] disappeared, then we won this battle? I’m not sure. We endured and did not give up what is ours. “But if we won, I can not say,” he told CBS News. The exact number of residents killed in Mariupol is unlikely to be known. His Ukrainian-controlled council said the Russians were collecting bodies – many of them lying on rubble – and cremating them in a mobile crematorium. Following the failure to occupy Kyiv, Russia has resumed its military efforts in the eastern Donbas region. When Mariupol falls, Russian regular battalions are expected to move north and try to connect with other military columns south of the city of Iyzum and the Kharkiv region. Western officials said they expected Russia to try to “double or possibly triple” its forces in Donbas as it moves troops from Kyiv and elsewhere in the coming weeks. The first of these forces had begun to redeploy through Belarus, but the whole exercise would take “a long time” and it was not clear how many units could be effectively repeated in battle. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry has said a full-scale attack on the Kremlin is possible. “They have almost finished their preparations. “We expect an attack in the near future,” spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told the Guardian. Asked if the Russians could encircle Ukraine’s defensive eastern army, he said: “We are not going to let that happen.” Ukraine’s top administration is facing an urgent tactical dilemma. Several Russian battalions withdrew late last month from the Kiev region of Belarus. Some are now making the long journey through Belgorod to the Russian side of the border, to re-emerge in southeastern Ukraine. Other units have been left in place. If Kyiv moves most of its forces to the territories of Donetsk and Luhansk, this would leave the capital exposed to a second surprise Russian attack from Belarus. In their message, the Marines in Mariupol also say that they feel “deleted” from their leader. Repeated promises to alleviate the overwhelming Russian blockade of the city or to evacuate some of their wounded by helicopter have not come to fruition. “It simply came to our notice then. “Due to nonsense, they were not implemented,” the brigade wrote. Residents walk near damaged buildings in Mariupol on Sunday 10 April. Photo: Xinhua / Rex / Shutterstock Like the trapped civilian population of Mariupol, the soldiers live in hell. “For more than a month, we fought without refueling our ammunition, without food, without water,” the Marines said, adding that they were forced to drink water from puddles. The message concludes: “It’s death for some of us and captivity for the rest. Do not speak ill of the Marines. Because we are FAITHFUL FOREVER! “ Russia has said it was targeting Ukrainian air defense systems in airstrikes Sunday night that completely destroyed an airport in the eastern city of Dnipro. Another attack injured five people in the town of Zvonetsky, according to Ukrainian officials. Emergency workers also combed an infrastructure facility in Zvonetsky that was attacked on Monday. Valentyn Reznichenko, governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, said the details of the victims would be released later. Reznichenko had earlier said that the attack in Dnipro had injured one person, while the rockets caused a fire that was eventually extinguished. A rocket had also hit a building in the Pavlohrad area, he added. Separately, the head of the Dnipro regional council, Mykola Lukasuk, said that five members of the state emergency service were injured in the attack at the airport. Russia said it had targeted an S-300 missile defense system flown to Ukraine from Slovenia last week, a claim Slovenia has denied. Kyiv has repeatedly asked its Western allies for long-range air defense systems to help it against the Russian invasion. Dnipro, an industrial city with a population of 1 million, has become a vital welcoming point for Ukrainians on the eastern side, who have been asked to flee in the face of both Russian ground advance and escalating airstrikes and artillery attacks. There seems little prospect of Moscow stopping its invasion of Ukraine soon. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said talks with Ukraine would continue, but stressed in an interview with Itar-Tass that there would be no cessation of hostilities until a final agreement was reached and signed.
