Kyiv- Ukrainian fighters clung to their last stronghold in Mariupol on Friday after Russia claimed victory in the biggest battle of the war, declaring the port city "liberated" following weeks of non-stop bombardment.
Putin’s decision to blockade the Azovstal steel plant likely indicates a desire to contain Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol and free up Russian forces to be deployed elsewhere in eastern Ukraine, Britain’s Defense Ministry said in an assessment Friday.
More atrocities came to light from photos released by Satellite image provider Maxar Technologies, showing more than 200 mass graves in a town where Ukrainian officials say the Russians have been burying Mariupol residents killed in the fighting.
Satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies on Thursday, April 21 and April 19 shows an overview of the cemetery in Manhush
The imagery revealed long rows of graves stretching away from an existing cemetery in the town of Manhush, outside Mariupol.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko accused Russia of “hiding their military crimes” by taking the bodies of civilians from the city and burying them in Manhush.
When mass graves and hundreds of dead civilians were discovered in Bucha and other towns around Kyiv, Russian officials denied that their soldiers killed any civilians there and accused Ukraine of staging the atrocities.
In a statement, Maxar said a review of previous images indicates that the graves in Manhush were dug in late March and expanded in recent weeks.
The Red Cross said it had expected to evacuate 1,500 people by bus from Mariupol, but the Russians allowed only a few dozen to leave and even pulled some people off of the buses.
In the U.S., President Joe Biden pledged an additional $1.3 billion for new weapons and economic assistance to help Ukraine, and he promised to seek much more from Congress to ensure a steady supply of guns, ammunition and cash.
-Reuters/AP