Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol defy surrender-or-die demand

Liberty and freedom are worth dying for, why surrender to thugs when you know you are better off dead.

Given the fact that the Russians refuse to honor agreed upon evacuation corridors and turn those evacuation corridors into shooting galleries/kill chutes for civilians trying to escape the war Putin forced on Ukraine, surrender would be little more than a death sentence. There is no reason to surrender, no reason not to fight to the death.

Mark,Freedom is worth paying for too, Ukrainian complaining about weapon ,wanted by them , American military do not get the weapon systems,they want all the time, American pay their taxes and expect not too be bombed by Russian

Must admit I thought the age of sacrifice for one’s country was over an outdated idea that served no purpose. But when faced with such evil, and the choice is stand and die or kneel and die. These hero’s have been through hell for the freedom of their people and will not bend their knee. Heartbreaking a timeless example of true heroism.

Zelensky want Biden to come to Kiev,this is a sign ,he under stress and duress,he is the President of Ukraine not Biden

Liberty and freedom are worth dying for, why surrender to thugs when you know you are better off dead.

Rainbow and butterflies. This isn’t about freedom. Just two sides that want to fight.

The West may say all it wants about protecting freedom, but at the end of the day, they’re after power, just like Russia.

Likewise Russia doesn’t care about the Russians in Ukraine and neither do the elite in the West about Ukrainians

Upset the balance of powers and you’ll have war.

“live to fight another day”

Fighting to the last man sounds heroic but the Ukrainian soldiers holed up in the steel plant have served their country well. There’s no shame in surrendering at this stage of the battle.

Putin's brutal military operation that has resulted in the wanton physical destruction of Ukraine and the massive outflow of millions fleeing the war are clear proof that fascist Putinistas want to replace the Ukrainians and their "peasant" language with ethnic Russians and the Russian language. Thus, in accordance with the Kremlin's diabolical plan for a "final solution", the millions who have fled to the West need not return, a callous calculation that leaves Ukrainian patriots no choice but to fight to the death the murderous horde of Russian fascists come to steal their land.

PT,some primates got more sense,than some human ,more sense than Putin

There is a lot more to this war than we are being told? And sadly, innocent lives are being lost in the process.

US Reamer most White Russian and Ukrainian are ethnic Slavic , Russian is not an ethnic group,but a nationality

After supposedly learning the lessons of WW2, the Final Solution, "it'll never happen again"..... I can't believe we are sitting back and just watching this tihs happen.

Liberty and freedom are worth dying for

there are several posters here who disagree, & think that Ukraine should surrender their country to the Russian masters.

Mind you, these people are living in western countries enjoying the freedom & riches western countries provide

Those 400 irregular fighters are not covered by the Geneva Convention. Their only option is to die fighting?

The Ukrainian government is ignoring that hundreds of soldiers in Mariupol have already surrendered, even while at risk of being shot by their own.

This time, the Russians have threatened to use vacuum bombs. So by ignoring the call for surrender and refusing to acknowledge a loss in Mariupol, the Ukrainian government is basically signing it's soldiers their death certificates for a chance to inflict some minor damage to the Russian army.

Has Zelensky even heard of the phrase "live to fight another day".

If I were a Ukrainian fighting for my country, I wouldn't even consider surrendering to those orcs, I'd just be shipped to a far-away labor camp and never see the light of day. This may sound too romantic, but I'd rather die on my feet. Russia attacking humanitarian corridors in the past weeks have shown that it will not honor it words and any agreement to surrender will just lead to Ukrainian and volunteer fighters just being placed out of the fight. Resist and Bite.

Those 400 irregular fighters are not covered by the Geneva Convention. Their only option is to die fighting?

Unless you believe the Russians' claims of mercy for surrendered prisoners

Toshiiro, their are million of Ukrainian that support living under the hell of Putin willingly,by taking up arms against fellow Ukrainian

Liberty and freedom are worth dying for

Liberty and freedom for who and to do what?

Mark

Because life is valuable.

The worth of freedom and liberty become worthless after your dead.

Better of alive than dead .

In this particular scenario it appears inevitable that a self sacrifice will not achieve freedom or liberty for these soldiers.

Sometimes strength is walking away from a fight .

They can't die as heroes because they were given the opportunity to surrender.

Iam not supporting putin or a surrender .

Thier only option is to die fighting .

That's obviously not true .

They can't die as heroes because they were given the opportunity to surrender.

Um, that's actually pretty damn heroic in my book. I understand if some of them end up surrendering, but they are tying up a lot of Russian men and materiel that could otherwise be used against Ukrainians elsewhere.

Besides, if you believe Ingvar above, the Russians will ultimately torture and kill them anyway.

If there are Ukrainian fighting to the last breath, in the most dire of circumstances, it speaks of the anger within, and the only conclusion is that when Russia thinks this is all over, it aint over. There's going to be multiple generations of freedom fighters or terrorists (which ever side you're on) wrecking havoc all over Russia and Belarus for decades.

IMHO, both the major powers in this bear responsibility. Biden in rejecting negotiation, and Putin in insisting the west capitulate.

Ukraine having no choice but fight (on their own against an almighty powerful adversary) is going to remember this chapter of its history.

Rather die on my feet than live on my knees at the hands of fascist Russia. Evidently the same goes for freedom-loving Ukrainians.

All power to those brave Ukrainians defending their sovereign land. The brutal fascist scum invading may win some battles, but make no mistake: they will not win the war.

The choice for Ukrainian men is simple and so is their message to the invader: if you come to kill our family and friends and destroy our homes, you will pay in blood, a message familiar to all Russians from Eisenstein's patriotic propaganda film "Alexander Nevsky" which ends with the warning fatally ignored by Hitler (and now by Putin): "Whoever will come to us with a sword, from a sword will perish."

The Ukrainians are tough, brave and they’re battling against a cruel monster. God, I hope they win!

Shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. I said before that Mariupol will be the harshest theater of fighting, because it is [was] the headquarters of Azov, and that definitely has been the case so far. While the average soldier or citizen could surrender safely, that is probably not the case for those Neo-nazi elements, so that they may as well go down fighting even if takes out those around them. They don't have much else left to lose, and they know that.

While Azov's structure itself may be more or less shattered, that doesn't mean every member is suddenly gone.

They refused to surrender. Did they refuse to die?

UChosePoorly-

You cant be a hero once your dead.

As already someone has wrote, they also don’t have any chance when surrendering, expecting only immediately killing anyway or unfair military trials and physical or psychological punishments resulting in their killing in fact too. Maybe , if they still have some resources left, they could try a coordinated fake surrender at multiple locations at the same time , and try a breakout, breakthroughs or at least taking as many as still possible of the enemies with them into the nirvana. There’s not so much left to do for them and for the world watching that next catastrophe of inhumanity.

When they surrender, they will be well treated as were the others. The problem for those still hiding out in cellars and underground facilities is that the methods to extract them may involve very large bangs and pops that will not be survivable.

fascist Putinistas want to replace the Ukrainians and their "peasant" language with ethnic Russians and the Russian language. 

There was an interesting documentary on NHK late last night by a Russian-speaking Ukrainian working in Japan, with family in Kyiv. She spoke over a number of days, from before the invasion to some days after it, about the connection between herself, her family and friends and the Russian language. Long story short, they are now all Ukrainian-speaking Ukrainians.

It will be rebroadcast on BS1 tomorrow (Tuesday) at 5pm. Well worth a watch if you can follow Japanese subtitles.

Has anyone heard about the furious partisan attacks going on in the areas the Russians have occupied? …….. So I'm confused as to why there is absolutely no news of that happening now.

I’m confused as to how you know all about something that there is ‘absolutely no news’ about?

By ‘furious partisan attacks’ do you mean totally understandable Ukrainian resistance to the invaders? That isn’t something there is absolutely no news about, unless your only news sources are russian.

“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Sunday both expressed an interest in having Biden visit Ukraine; British Prime Minister Boris Johnsonvisited the war-torn country earlier this month.”

When they surrender, they will be well treated as were the others

You mean as well treated as the unarmed civilians in Bucharest and other towns and villages around Kyiv were treated?

The ‘word’ of the orcs that prisoners will be well treated, or even that they will be allowed to live, carries no weight at all. The actions of the orcs so far in the invasion could be almost intended to ensure that no Ukrainian fighters will ever surrender. It’s a guaranteed death sentence. The defenders really have no choice but to fight on, the alternative being either summary execution or torture and being used for propaganda purposes (like the UK fighter recently captured and paraded on russian TV) - before succumbing to ‘battleground injuries’ sustained after their capture.

Fighto it isnt a war and nobody's winning.

cleo.....

You mean as well treated as the unarmed civilians in Bucha and other towns and villages around Kyiv were treated?

The majority of those "unarmed civilians" were killed by the Ukrainian militias for being collaborators. They were mostly ethnic Russians who welcomed the Russian troops rather prematurely.

Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol defy surrender-or-die demand:

Brave spirit. But ignore at ones' own peril..

Such despicable cruelty of all wars..

We've heard a story like this before about an island and the brave defiance of the 'defenders' and how they died by Russian hands and it was BIG news even here on JT. We then learned later in much smaller type that that 'story' was, in fact, just a 'story' and the brave 'martyrs' were now POWs. I suspect that THIS story will have similar elements later when the dust clears truth finally filters out...

"You mean as well treated as the unarmed civilians in Bucharest..."

Bucharest? The Russians are in Romania too?!! I gotta keep up better...

Surrender or die.

The choice is simple.

Dont be a lemming.

@Kyo wa heiwa dayo ne

You just don't get it! Only people willing to die for their beliefs can change the course of history. These people are fighting not just for themselves but for the freedom of future generations of Ukrainians.

The Russians know that extracting the dug-in Ukrainian defenders is going to be a slow, grinding, extremely bloody process -- not unlike what happened to the Germans in Stalingrad 80 years ago. It might even cost the attackers two or three to one in terms of dead and wounded, which would make it largely a pyrrhic victory.

It's so tragic for Russia to have to attack its brotherly neighbor so frantically and so thoroughly. Seems Vladimir Putin is desperate and acting in a blind fury, giving short shrift to rationalism and  international criticism.

Putin may accomplish his short-term goal all right, but in the long run his goal of making Russia great again is sure to fail. Former U.S. President Donald Trump maintained a similar stance to Putin during Presidential campaigns, saying: “Make America great again”. 

In this vein, Trump and Putin share similar values and characteristics. Both men are extreme nationalists and chauvinists, dangerous to the outside world.

You know, Trump and his cohorts, Fox News, endorse Putin highly for his handling of the issue. Cf. “Trump, Fox News endorse Putin”,   JBpress: 2022/04/18

Warning: A NATO/Internet wide National Security Letter has been issued blocking all reporting of the alleged capture of an American general in Mariupol.

*Reports from our friends in the Pentagon say “something’s up” and p**anic has set in at the White House. Minutes ago, the general showed up on his Linkedin account and we are told that the ranks of retirees and crisis actors (yes they exist) are being scoured for fat bald types that can be green-screened into a show and tell with Zelensky, believed to be hiding in Poland.*