Russia aims to take Mariupol as part of eastern Ukraine onslaught

All of these for what?

Mariupol is more and more reminding me of WWII Stalingrad. The defenders pushed back to the water and controlling only a small sliver of the city but hanging on. Then the attackers were surrounded and defeated. Let us hope this happens in Mariupol and is also the beginning of the end for Putin and his monstrous invasion.

Just the remainder of the Azov battalion and foreign mercenaries holding out in the port and a huge industrial complex. Difficult to get them out as the Russians want to keep these intact for future use so the large scale use of artillery and missiles is ruled out. Mariupol is in Donetsk province so will become an important port for the newly "independent" eastern areas. The big question is Odessa. Will the Ukrainians be able to keep one port? That's a huge bargaining chip for when they sit down at Putin's big table.

While Russian people may not take any particular offense to it, haven’t heard real people use that ‘Cold War term from Russian leaders & their military’ since …

well, …

… the Cold War.

*- @zichi 5:08pm: “The Ruskies have used chemical weapons.” -*

The Azov regiment has been defending Mariupol for 7 weeks on their own now without any reinforcement or aid. Low on manpower, food, medicine and ammunition while being shelled every day. The world practically abandon them to their fate. I am actually very surprise they manage to hold on for this long.

I seem to remember when people were supposedly “poisoned”

Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning after a meeting in Kyiv earlier this month, people familiar with the matter said.

then they weren’t

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the publication that U.S. intelligence “highly suggests this was environmental.”

And the U.N. Security Council -- which on Monday held a session on the plight of women and children in Ukraine -- will hold another meeting next week on the humanitarian situation there, in a bid to keep pressure on Russia despite its veto power over the body, diplomats said.

I had read reports of the UN deciding to remove Russia from the UNSC. Any truth to this?

It's been heavily rumoured for several days now on social media that the DPR and Russian forces have the Azov leadership, together with many foreign trainers and mercenaries trapped in the Azovstal steelworks.

Yeah give that “chemical weapons” 48 hours then let’s see if it’s still true.

All sides with fake and fake news. Let’s say for example, a Russian has doubts and doesn’t believe it what Putin tells and wants to check. He or she then makes a VPN account, searches and looks into Western data available. Let’s say, the famous Google earth app , not anything almost unknown or untrusted. And there you have it, old satellite data, Mariupol a nice green city at the sea… Of course they never believe you, if you tell them that everything has been bombed down and people have been killed in thousands.