President: We could have relieved Mariupol if we had weapons and equipment

Kateryna Tyshchenko - Tuesday, 11 April 2022, 00:10

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that the Armed Forces could have relieved the siege of Mariupol if they had the necessary weapons, aircrafts and armoured vehicles, but they have not received these.

Source: Presidential address

Quote: "Unfortunately, we are not getting as much as we need to end this war sooner - to completely destroy the enemy on our soil, and to accomplish those tasks that are obvious to every one of our people. In particular, to relieve Mariupol.

If we had received aircraft and enough heavy armoured vehicles and the artillery we needed, we would have been able to do it. But…We still have to negotiate about this. We still have to persuade. We still have to squeeze out the necessary decisions."

Details: Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine still depends on its partners for the necessary weapons.

"I am sure that we will get almost everything we need. But it’s not just time that is being lost. The lives of Ukrainians are being lost. Lives that can no longer be returned. And this is also the responsibility of those who are still holding onto the weapons Ukraine needs in their armoury. A responsibility that will forever go down in history"- the President declared.

Background:

• The 36th Independent Marine Brigade, which is defending Mariupol from Russian invaders, has published an appeal to Ukrainians in Russian. The statement said that there may be a final battle for all defenders of Mariupol on 11 April, and that there has been no contact with Ukrainian military command for two weeks.
• Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of Ukrainian Armed Forces, later reacted and gave assurances that the command had been in contact with the Defence Forces in Mariupol. He added that the details of the defence operation should not be a topic for public discussion.
• The Russian threatened to seal off Ukrainian fighters at the "Azovstal" plant in Mariupol and use chemical weapons against them.
• Azov subsequently reported the use of chemical weapons.