Russian ultimatum to Ukrainian troops in Mariupol to surrender or die as deadline expired on Wednesday afternoon, but the commander of a unit believed to be holding out in the besieged city stated his forces could only live days or hours.
The UN announced on Wednesday that the number of refugees fleeing Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 24 has surpassed five million. More than half of the people are children.
Thousands of Russian troops have attempted to advance in what Ukrainian officials refer to as the Battle of the Donbas, a new push to conquer two eastern provinces that Moscow claims on behalf of separatists.
The commander of Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade, one of the last forces believed to be defending Mariupol, appealed for international assistance in escape the city’s siege in a video.
“This is our message to the rest of the world. It’s possible that this will be our final trip. It’s possible that we just have a few days or hours remaining “Major Serhiy Volyna mentioned this in a Facebook video. “The enemy units are dozens of times greater than ours; they control the air, artillery, ground forces, equipment, and tanks.”
In what sounded like a packed room, Volyna spoke in front of a white brick wall. Reuters was unable to confirm where the video was shot, when it was shot, or who else might have been present.
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