‘Will fight to the end’: Ukrainian forces in Mariupol defy Russia's surrender-or-die demand
India Today
Ukrainian defenders in a hold-out pocket of Mariupol fought back against the capture of the vital port, ignoring a surrender-or-die ultimatum from the Russians.
Ukrainian fighters holed up in a steel plant in the last known pocket of resistance inside the shattered city of Mariupol ignored a surrender-or-die ultimatum from the Russians on Sunday and held out against the capture of the strategically vital port.
The fall of Mariupol, the site of a merciless, 7-week-old siege that has reduced much of the city to a smoking ruin, would be Moscow's biggest victory of the war yet and free up troops to take part in a potentially climactic battle for control of Ukraine's industrial east.
As its missiles and rockets slammed into other parts of the country, Russia estimated 2,500 Ukrainian troops and about 400 foreign mercenaries were dug in at the hulking Azovstal steel mill, which covers more than 11 square kilometers (4 square miles) and is laced with tunnels.
Moscow gave the defenders a midday deadline to surrender, saying those who laid down their arms were “guaranteed to keep their lives.” The Ukrainians rejected it, just as they did with previous ultimatums.
READ | Ukraine braces for fall of Mariupol to Russia
“We will fight absolutely to the end, to the win, in this war,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal vowed on ABC's “This Week.” He said Ukraine is prepared to end the war through diplomacy if possible, “but we do not have intention to surrender.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sent Easter greetings via Twitter, saying: "The Lord's Resurrection is a testimony to the victory of life over death, good over evil.”
