"Over the past 24 hours, the enemy was launching air strikes on Mariupol, there were assaults on the seaport. We also check the information about the enemy preparations for a naval landing operation... Mariupol holds on, the Armed Forces strongly defend it. It is important to realize the role of Mariupol now, because, in fact, it is now a shield that defends Ukraine. All the Russian troops are amassed there, they do not go further, to other regions of Ukraine," Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said during the nationwide telethon, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
As noted, Ukraine’s Armed Forces repulsed 10 enemy attacks in Donetsk and Luhansk directions over the past day.
The deputy minister also noted that the situation in Kharkiv was stably difficult: part of the city is blocked, enemy strikes are being launched on the city.
As reported, Mariupol experiences one of the biggest humanitarian catastrophes due to Russia's aggression. The invaders bomb unarmed residents and block the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The Mariupol Mayor earlier stated that up to 20,000 civilians had died in the city since the Russian invasion.
According to the Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Russians deployed 13 mobile crematoriums in Mariupol to remove the bodies of dead residents from the streets.
The invaders also deprive Mariupol residents of Ukrainian passports and forcibly transfer them to Russia and certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
About 120,000 civilians stay now in besieged Mariupol.
Soldiers of the Azov Regiment, Motor Rifle Brigade, and the Marines continue to defend Mariupol.
