On Monday, Zelensky said 'tens of thousands' of people had died in Mariupol, a claim that could not be immediately verified. The defense of Mariupol has also been a national rallying point for Ukrainians, and the destruction of the city has become a symbol of Russia's indiscriminate use of firepower. Ukraine's defense of Mariupol has tied down Russian units and hampered their efforts to solidify a land corridor from the Russian border to the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. Ukrainian officials have said around 100,000 civilians remain in the city, which has come under heavy bombardment. Valery Zaluzhny, commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said Monday that the 'defense of Mariupol continues' amid heavy fighting between Ukrainian forces inside the besieged city and Russian troops and pro-Russian separatists. I am sure that we will get almost everything we need. We still have to squeeze out the necessary decisions. “If we got jets and enough heavy armored vehicles, the necessary artillery, we would be able to do it,” he said, “But we still have to agree on this. In particular, to unblock Mariupol,” Zelensky said. And to fulfill those tasks that are obvious to each of our people. To completely destroy the enemy on our land. “When it comes to the necessary weapons, we still depend on the supply, on our partners. Unfortunately, we are not getting as much as we need to end this war sooner.

Russia invades ukraine 2020