Further direction of the enemy advancement depends on whether the city will be able to hold. According to Ukrinform, this is what the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said answering journalists’ questions during the joint briefing with Federal Chancellor of Austria Karl Negammer.
“Mariupol is standing… How much longer will it be able to hold? Our soldiers - brave and strong - are there. They are among the strongest, and you know it very well. This is a huge challenge for them. They are surrounded by 10 thousands russian soldiers. And if we can hold Mariupol, this 10 thousands, it means they (russian federation soldiers - publisher) will stay there and won’t advance to the East etc,” - said Zelenskyy.
According to him, a lot depends on how quickly our world partners will react by supplying arms. Also, it depends on whether the leader of russian federation will be ready to go further.
“Everything depends on our UAF (Armed Forces of Ukraine). So the most important thing for us is that they are ready in any direction,” - President said.
Even though the “green (humanitarian) corridor” to Mariupol has been declared open for a month, there was not a single opportunity to deliver humanitarian help to Mariupol. In Zelenskyy opinion, this is happening because russian aggressors are afraid that the world will see what is really happening in Mariupol.