Defenders in Mariupol are desperately short on supplies and may lose control of the city within days or less, Ukrainian military officials said Wednesday, as their Russian foes ramped up a non-stop bombardment of the strategically vital port city and inched closer to what would be the first major prize so far in Moscow’s two-month war.
Ukrainian troops remained holed up deep inside the city’s sprawling steel plant complex and its network of underground tunnels, refusing to surrender despite slim chances for victory. Russian troops pounded the facility throughout the day Wednesday as President Vladimir Putin issued stark new warnings to Ukraine and its Western allies, touting a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system that he said is the most advanced in the world.
The stubborn resistance in Mariupol is giving Ukrainian forces time to entrench and reinforce troops in defensive lines in the country’s Donbas region, where Ukrainian and pro-Russian separatist forces have been battling to a stalemate for eight years. Russian forces have turned their full attention to the campaign in the south and east of Ukraine after the first forays after the Feb. 24 invasion failed to take the capital of Kyiv or other major urban targets.
Facing the full weight of the Russian war machine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his personnel need heavier weapons in order to stand a fighting chance. Mr. Zelenskyy said there are two ways the standoff in Mariupol could end.
“First, it involves serious and heavy weapons. … At the moment we don’t have enough of these weapons to free Mariupol. The second path is diplomatic. So far Russia hasn’t agreed to this,” the Ukrainian leader said, as quoted by CNN and other English-language media outlets.
“We don’t know when we can unblock Mariupol. And I say this openly, that all the boys in Mariupol want our victory, they want a free city. None of them are going to surrender to the enemy. This is their internal feeling, this is what they are,” he said.
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With tens of thousands of civilians still trapped in Mariupol, Ukraine rushed to establish a humanitarian corridor and provide an escape from the devastated city. Ukrainian leaders said they reached a preliminary deal with Russian forces to allow for such a corridor, but previous evacuation agreements have quickly fallen apart, and it was unclear late Wednesday whether the latest deal would hold.
On a day when the Biden administration announced yet another round of sanctions on Russian individuals, banks and, in a first, a cryptocurrency “mining” company, U.N. officials announced a grim new milestone for the war: The number of Ukrainians who have fled the country because of the fighting went past the 5 million mark — the largest movement of refugees in Europe since World War II.
The UN’s lead refugee agency said some 90% or those who have left are women and children, as the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not allowed men of military age to leave the country.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki outlined an aggressive series of military supply flights to Ukraine, claiming the Biden administration is working “around the clock” to meet Ukrainian military needs in light of the Kremlin’s strategy shift.
“We made a strategic decision given we’ve seen Russia reposition their troops and their military to the eastern part of Ukraine to fight a different kind of war on the ground, which will be more shooting back and forth through long range,” Ms. Psaki said. “We have been working with Ukrainians and the Ukrainian military to determine exactly the kind of security assistance they need for this stage of the war.”
Separately, Charles Michel, the head of the European Union’s executive arm, became the latest Western dignitary to visit Kyiv to witness the devastation wrought by the fighting. Mr. Michel met with Mr. Zelenskyy and toured the suburb of Borodianka, where Ukrainian authorities have charged that now-departed Russian troops carried out atrocities, something Moscow denies.
“History will not forget the war crimes that have been committed here,” Mr. Michel wrote in a post on Twitter.
Capturing Mariupol would be a hugely important and badly needed symbolic win for a Russian army that has been plagued by a series of embarrassing missteps and logistical failures in the two-month-old war. Since giving up on that campaign, Russian troops have reorganized in the disputed Donbas region for an all-out assault on eastern Ukraine.
A victory in Mariupol would allow Moscow to create a land bridge between the Donbas and the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia forcibly annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The fall of the city also would mark a major psychological blow for Ukrainian troops, which over the past eight weeks have stunned the world by more than holding their own against the much larger and better armed Russian force.
But Russian commanders seem to have learned from past mistakes and are targeting Ukrainian supply lines in order to cut Mariupol’s defenders off from the rest of the country.
“Russian attacks on cities across Ukraine show their intent to disrupt the movement of Ukrainian reinforcements and weaponry to the east of the country,” the British Ministry of Defense said in a Twitter post Wednesday.
Russian officials said they delivered to Kyiv a draft document outlining their demands to end the conflict.
“The ball is in their court, we’re waiting for a response,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
It’s unclear exactly what is contained in those documents. Ukrainian officials said Wednesday they’re reviewing the proposal.
Saber-rattling
Meanwhile, Mr. Putin engaged in some more of his trademark saber-rattling in touting the test of Russia’s new Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) system. Mr. Putin watched footage of the test launch before congratulating his armed forces and issuing another warning to Ukraine, the U.S., and NATO.
“I congratulate you on the successful launch of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile. It is a great and landmark event in the development of advanced weapon systems in the Russian army,” Mr. Putin said, according to his country’s state-run Tass News Agency.
“It has no analogs in the world and will not have any for a long time to come. This truly unique weapon will bolster the combat capabilities of our armed forces, will reliably safeguard Russia’s security from external threats and will make those who in the frenzy of rabid and aggressive rhetoric are trying to threaten our country think twice,” he said.
Mr. Putin said the Sarmat system was built using only Russian parts, meaning its production and eventual deployment will be shielded from global sanctions imposed by the West on the Russian economy.
For Moscow, such an approach will likely be necessary for years to come, as the U.S. and its NATO allies look to isolate the Russian economy as much as possible. That international effort was on clear display again Wednesday when U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and top finance officials from Britain and Canada walked out of a G-20 meeting in Washington when Russian representatives began speaking.
Ukrainian officials also walked out of the gathering, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources.
British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed the high-level walkout in a Twitter post.
“Earlier my representatives, along with U.S. & Canadian counterparts left today’s G20 meeting in Washington as Russian delegates spoke,” he wrote. “We are united in our condemnation of Russia’s war against Ukraine and will push for stronger international coordination to punish Russia.”
In Ukraine, the situation remains so dire that the head of Ukraine’s Orthodox church said believers should not take part in Easter services in areas of the country affected by fighting, saying he had little faith that Russian forces would honor any cease-fire to mark the Orthodox Eastern celebrations this weekend, the Reuters news agency reported.
The Orthodox Easter service starts late on Saturday into Sunday morning when a traditional feast begins.
“It is hard to believe this will really happen, because the enemy is trying to completely destroy us,” Metropolitan Epifaniy said in a televised address Wednesday.
— This article is based in part on wire-service reports