Mariupol Is Asked To Surrender
The fate of Mariupol grows worse, as the remaining Ukrainian troops have been given another deadline to surrender. There have been criticisms from around the world, where France wants to talk Putin into a ceasefire that he already has stated he is not interested in, Germany has offered to loan money to Ukraine to buy weapons, so that they don’t appear to be actually aiding them by giving them weapons, and the US effort is about 6 weeks late.
The deadline was this morning at 11.00, and while some civilians have been evacuated the fate of the soldiers is yet unknown. Ukrainian has asked for negotiations over Mariupol, and has offered an exchange of Russian prisoners of war, and Russian bodies in exchange for those trapped in Mariupol.
The Azovstal Iron and Steel Works is the last place where civilians are hiding, with wounded soldiers and no supplies left. His plea for assistance is hard to watch as he declares they have hours left to live and need extraction from a third party. By that I assume he means special forces to rescue them and to take them to place of safety.
Day 56 (20 April)
As the Russians force the Ukrainians to surrender in Mariupol, humanitarian corridors have again been negotiated. Whether they will happen is another matter as previous attempts have continually failed as Russians did not adhere to the agreement and attacked the routes and corridors.
Some in Mariupol have been able to leave, but mainly women and children. In Zaporizhzia, an evacuation corridor was also opened.
The world is criticizing Germany for choosing not to support Ukraine directly, and questions arise as to whether Germany has an agenda.
Ukraine’s EU membership form has been received and some additional information has been requested and responses given.
The US will train some Ukraine soldiers how to use Howitzers, and Germany has also said they will offer military training. Isn’t this all a little late in the day when troops are being forced to surrender?
Russians and Belarusians are banned from Wimbledon this year. The ATP and WTA have criticized the move as discriminatory, but this is inline with all other sporting events.
In a G20 meeting, when Russia spoke, several countries walked out and boycotted the meeting. The US, UK, France, and Canada were among those who walked out.
The EU Council president (Charles Michel) made an unannounced visit to Kyiv today.
The Czech Republic has offered to assist in repairing Ukrainian weapons.
Russia is testing a ballistic missile (Sarmat), and apparently we do not have to be concerned according to John Kirby at the Pentagon as Russia had informed them of the test. I doubt any of us are reassured by his words—I am not.
Another prisoner swap has been made, and this is the fifth so far.
Putin has claimed that by taking Donbas, he can make life better for all there.
As night falls, the sirens are heard across Ukraine as civilians are urged to take shelter from the Russians.
The UN Secretary General has urged Ukraine and Russia to meet to discuss peace. So far, the UN has been totally ineffective and useless and as Russia has no interest in a ceasefire or peace (because this is a special military operation and they are saving people), I can’t see that the UN has any influence over this matter at all.
Switzerland declares its support for Ukraine, but states this does not affect their neutral status.
Heartbreaking. I have no other words about the current situation. Wait, I do have one other word and that is ….disappointing. So disappointed in NATO, UN, EU, US, and other sundry countries and organizations that were supposed to engender world peace and hinder aggression.
Thank you again, @EL, for your Herculean efforts at keeping us informed and summarizing salient points. This blog is the best source of concise information about Ukraine’s evolving and deteriorating situation.
The old saying ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.’ comes to mind when looking at how the West is reacting to Putin. I mean, really, just how many times does it take for the West negotiate something (i.e. humanitarian corridors) only to have Putin promise one thing and turn right around and completely disregard the agreement, before finally admitting his word is like quicksand. 1? 3? 20? It is time for the West to realize that time for talking/negotiation is long past and to face the realization that action is the only way to end this war, because no matter how the West tries to spin it, this is a War. Thank you again, EL, for doing the ‘heavy lifting’ in documenting everything, and keeping us informed.