The leader of a pro-Russia breakaway region in southeastern Ukraine said his forces are poised to seize the key port city of Mariupol on behalf of Vladimir Putin as early as Tuesday.
Denis Pushilin, the separatist leader of Donetsk, said in a television interview that his Donetsk People’s Militia fighters have already encircled Volnovakha, a small town located halfway between Mariupol and Donetsk. Mariupol, whose population of 430,000 is evenly divided between ethnic Russians and Ukrainians, sits about 65 miles due south of Donetsk on the Sea of Azov, near the Russian border. It is Ukraine’s tenth-largest city and is home to a critical port and several steel mills.
FULL COVERAGE OF THE WAR IN UKRAINE FROM WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“Our task for today is encircle Mariupol,” Pushilin said.
Mariupol is seen as a key target for Russia because of its location and industrial importance. Capturing it would allow Russia to establish a land bridge between Crimea, which it seized in 2014, and the Russian mainland.
Pushilin accused Ukrainian officials in Mariupol of terrorizing civilians, and there have been reports that the city’s large Greek population has been unable to flee the fighting. Pushilin claimed his group will work with Russian forces to form humanitarian corridors for civilians to leave Mariupol.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko, in a separate TV interview, said residential areas have been shelled daily since Russia invaded on Feb. 24.
“There are many wounded, dead local residents, women, children,” Boichenko said. “But today, the best sons of their fatherland on the borders of our city are doing everything, not to give Mariupol away.”
