“Our Last Days”: Ukrainian forces, mercenaries beg for extraction as Russian forces draw closer

A commander for the Ukrainian marines fighting Russian forces in Mariupol says his forces were “may be facing our last days, if not hours”, as Russia issued a new ultimatum to fighters holding out inside a steel plant in the besieged city.

“The enemy is outnumbering us 10 to one,” Serhiy Volyna from the 36th Separate Marine Brigade said as he appealed for extraction from the last stronghold in Mariupol in a Facebook post early on Wednesday

Hundreds of civilians are believed to be sheltering in the basement of the besieged Azovstal factory, a vast plant with underground tunnels.

According to Russian information, some 2,500 Ukrainian fighters and 400 foreign mercenaries are holed up in the steelworks, while Ukrainian reports say approximately 1,000 civilians are said to have sought protection there.

It is not possible to verify information given by either side given the scale of the fighting and lack of communications in Mariupol, whose port was surrounded by Russian troops on March 1, shortly after the start of the Russian invasion on February 24.

The city and port are largely considered to have been destroyed in weeks of Russian bombing and shellings.

Russia shifted its focus to eastern Ukraine in the last week of March after its forces withdrew from Kyiv and its adjoining areas ending what Moscow called “the first phase” of the war.

Al Jazeera