Last Ukrainian troops in Mariupol, which is under siege, have been told that they may only have hours to live by their commander. Maj. Serhiy Volyna said there were 500 wounded troops and many civilians at the Azovstal steel plant, which is now the last Ukrainian stronghold in the port city.
He and the Azov Regiment, a far-right volunteer force widely regarded as one of the country’s most capable, are trapped in the plant along with his 36th Marine Brigade.
“We are probably facing our last days, if not hours,”
Volyna also tagged President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the post.
“We appeal and plead to all world leaders to help us. We ask them to use the procedure of extraction and take us to the territory of a third-party state,” he said.
Mariupol, a strategically important city in southeastern Ukraine, has been under Russian attack since mid-March. Its capture would give Russian President Vladimir Putin a major boost as he launches his offensive in Donbas.
