Ukraine rejects Russian ultimatum to leave Mariupol

With just a month to go, the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory continues to slow down. This has been warned by former CIA director David Petraeus, who has stated that the slowdown in the advances of Moscow's army "does not mean a ceasefire", but rather a stalemate that already has bloody consequences for both sides, as well as for Ukrainian civilians. 

Against this backdrop, the Kremlin last night sent the Kiev government an eight-page missive in which it made the establishment of evacuation corridors conditional on the surrender of the port city of Mariupol. This implied the surrender of weapons and the abandonment of the town by the Ukrainian army. However, as the deadline for a response approached, the Kiev authorities rejected the ultimatum as "delusional". 

"We cannot talk about arms deliveries. We have already informed the Russian side about this," explained Irina Vereshchuk, First Deputy Minister for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories. 

Mariupol represents a strategic enclave for both Moscow and Kiev. While the former sees the city as its opportunity to block Ukraine's access to the Sea of Azov, and to connect the pro-Russian territories of Donbas with the Crimea region - in Russian hands since 2014 -, the latter is pinning great hopes on Mariupol to prevent the siege of the capital from continuing to tighten. In fact, according to Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, Mariupol's resistance is enabling the protection of many other localities, such as Odessa, Dnipro and Kiev. 

Now, despite agreements on the opening of eight humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians, none are planned in the port city. A city that has been under siege since almost the beginning of the conflict, and which EU High Representative Josep Borrell has described as a "massive war crime" by Russia. 

But this has not deterred Moscow from increasing and reorganising its forces to reinvigorate progress. In this vein, the Russian Navy today moved the Black Sea Fleet ship "Orsk" to the port of Berdiansk, 90 kilometres from the city of Mariupol. The ship's main cargo was armoured vehicles and war equipment that is expected to be used in support of the siege of the town. As a result, the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure has announced the closure of all ports on the Azov and Black Seas temporarily, blocking any vessels intending to enter or leave. 

#Russia has begun using the port of Berdyansk near Mariupol to unload military equipment pic.twitter.com/JQjZq3BBoE

— Michael A. Horowitz (@michaelh992) March 21, 2022

In the meantime, diplomatic efforts between the two sides appear to be continuing, as evidenced by a new video-conference meeting between the Kiev and Ukrainian delegations. For nearly 90 minutes, negotiators from both sides continued talks on reaching a peace agreement in talks that are expected to continue throughout the day. This was reported by the party led by Volodymir Zelensky, the People's Servant party. 

However, this has not prevented attacks on Ukrainian cities from continuing, with Russia claiming that, if a ceasefire is established during negotiations, Ukrainian "nationalists" will "attack". "Any pause is used by nationalist units to regroup and continue attacks against the Russian army," said presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov. 

Ukrainian civilians and military continue to face violence that, far from abating, seems to be growing more intense as the days go by and progress slows. In the Podilski district of Kiev, shelling in the vicinity of a shopping centre has left at least eight dead and one injured. The Ukrainian prosecutor's office has condemned the attack and accused Russian troops of using means "prohibited by international law". Meanwhile, in Odessa, the authorities have denounced the first attack on the city, which was carried out by warships that were stationed off the coast and which - in the words of the mayor, Genadi Trukhanov - fired at "residential buildings where peaceful people live". 

In view of this situation, the capital has established a new curfew, and, according to the mayor, Vitali Klitschko, from 20:00 today (19:00 in Spain) until 07:00 on Wednesday, the citizens of Kiev will have to remain in their shelters. Shops, pharmacies and petrol stations will remain closed throughout Tuesday. 

With nearly a quarter of the population forced from their homes and subjected to constant attacks on civilian buildings, some 13 million Ukrainians are right now trapped in the conflict zone, and some 3.5 million have already left the country. Indeed, at a conference organised by the World Economic Forum, the heads of the world's leading humanitarian organisations concluded that "there are no longer safe places in Ukraine". 

In addition, the NGO Save the Children has warned: "Up to six million children in Ukraine remain at grave risk as the war draws closer by the month. We are extremely alarmed by reports that bombs and heavy shelling have damaged more than 460 schools across the country and more than 60 are now in ruins," said the organisation's director general, Pete Walsh, as reported by Europa Press.

"If forces continue to drop bombs and shell health facilities, thousands of children and pregnant women still living in Ukraine will be left without essential medical care," the NGO added.

So far, 115 children have been killed and 148 injured, and as the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has stated, Moscow is forcibly transferring thousands of children from the Donbas region to Russian territory. Last Saturday alone, the institution reported the forced displacement of more than 2,300 children.

Meanwhile, President Zelensky has again called on the international community to isolate Moscow, and urged the European Union to stop "all trade" with Russia. "No euros for the occupiers, close all your ports to them, don't send them your goods, refuse them energy resources," Zelenski demanded via Telegram. "Without trade with you, without your companies and without your banks, Russia will have no more money for this war". 

EU foreign and defence ministers met in Brussels on Monday to negotiate possible new sanctions against the Kremlin, as well as to approve a new defence strategy to guarantee the autonomy of the EU-27 and once again address the Ukrainian issue.