Zelenskyy: Mariupol defenders holding back 10,000 Russian occupiers

Iryna Balachuk – Saturday, 9 April 2022, 15:11

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said that the defenders of Mariupol are up against 10,000 Russian occupying troops. If the city can hold, the Russian troops will not be able to advance to the east of Ukraine.

Source: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, in a joint press conference with Karl Nehammer, Chancellor of Austria, on 9 April.

According to Zelenskyy: "Mariupol holds. How long will Mariupol hold? Our soldiers are there. Powerful, strong. Some of the strongest, you know this well. Today there are 10,000 Russian troops around them."

Details: The President of Ukraine added that this is an enormous trial for Mariupol’s defenders, but if they can hold Mariupol, those 10,000 Russians will remain there and will not be able to advance to the east of Ukraine, which Russia plans to capture.

Zelenskyy noted that he cannot predict how events will unfold in eastern Ukraine, where the Russian aggressor is gathering forces for an offensive operation. However, he did stress that he believes in Ukraine’s victory.

Background:

• On 6 April, Serhiy Haidai, Head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, said that Russian troops are continuing to move military equipment and personnel into the Luhansk region and will attempt an offensive in the next few days. He added that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were prepared to fight back.
• Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, reported that some of the units that Russia has withdrawn from the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions are being relocated to the Kharkiv and Donetsk fronts.
• The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed that its troops carried out the "main tasks" on the Kyiv and Chernihiv fronts and are regrouping to capture the entire Donbas region.
• On 8 April, Haidai said that Russia had almost completed the gathering of its forces in the Luhansk region and was preparing for a major battle for the Donbas region of Ukraine.

Andriy Yermak, Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said he was convinced that Russia will not be able to win in Donbas, because Ukraine will not yield and will not surrender its sovereignty and territorial integrity.