Putin demands Mariupol surrender
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday again demanded that Mariupol surrender. Only then, according to him, will the bombing in the southern port city – where almost no building is standing anymore – stop. The Kremlin also appears to be confirming that troops still besieging the northern cities of Kyiv and Chernihiv should step up the offensive in the southeast.
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The Russians also gave Mariupol an ultimatum a week ago to lay down their arms. That was not heeded. The heavy firefights and heavy bombardments did not end there.
Nine out of ten buildings in Mariupol have now been (seriously) damaged and four out of ten buildings have been razed to the ground. On Wednesday, a Red Cross building would have been attacked and destroyed, Ukrainian authorities claim.
No casualty count has been reported and the information could not be independently verified. According to the city council, at least five to ten thousand people have already been killed.
Putin made his surrender demand in a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron. The latter presented an evacuation plan for the city, “which Putin will think about,” French authorities said.
Scaling down military deployment looks like regrouping for eastern Ukraine
In the meantime, Russia’s pledge to scale down military deployments at Kyiv and Chernihiv continues to haunt people. The main question remains how reliable the Russian promise is. For example, Chernihiv was again heavily bombed a few hours after the statement and the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reported on Wednesday that there is no question of a large-scale withdrawal.
There would also be indications that Russia would like to resume the offensive against the major cities soon, Kyiv claims.
Putin demands Mariupol surrender and wants stronger offensive in east
US intelligence agencies already reported on Tuesday that Russia would have made a promise so that the troops can strengthen the offensive in eastern Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry appears to confirm that information on Wednesday. “A regrouping is underway to liberate eastern Ukraine,” news agency Ria Novosti quoted a ministry spokesman as saying.
First explanation about which military goal Russia would have achieved
The Kremlin had already indicated last week that it wants to completely shift its focus to eastern Ukraine. According to Moscow, this was justifiable, because the first invasion phase would have been completed.
However, the Kremlin did not provide an explanation until Wednesday about what target would have been achieved.
Russia’s defense ministry claims on Wednesday that the aim was to “force Ukrainians to defend major cities”. That statement is disputed by experts: in conversation with Us.
they say that with this explanation Putin can present the ‘military operation’ as a success to his own population, without acknowledging that the offensive had stalled in the major cities.
Kremlin tempers expectations over peace talks (Putin demands Mariupol surrender)
Finally, Moscow’s hopeful expectations surrounding the peace talks were somewhat tempered.
Both delegations concluded Tuesday evening with mainly positive reports, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that there is no word yet about “something promising” or “a breakthrough”.
Peskov states that there is still a lot of work to be done.
Both sides mainly talk about the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops, military neutrality of Ukraine and security guarantees from Russia if Ukraine does indeed renounce NATO membership.
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