THE SQUIZ
Russia has all but taken control of the southern city of Mariupol as it continues its attack on Ukraine. The port city has been under heavy bombardment since the start of the war and is still home to as many as 100,000 stranded civilians. Ukraine has vowed to fight to the end, and as Russia gears up for a big new offensive in the east, President Volodymyr Zelensky has refused to hand over any territory. “I don’t trust the Russian leadership,” he said. “It doesn’t mean if they are able to capture Donbas, they won’t come further towards Kyiv.”

WHY IS MARIUPOL IMPORTANT?
Taking it would allow Russia to create a continuous land bridge from the Donbas in the east of Ukraine to Crimea, which is the peninsula it illegally annexed in 2014. And it’s a critical logistics hub. Ukraine rejected a Russian deadline to surrender the city on Sunday and is fighting on. Russia had called on local soldiers to comply with the order or risk being “eliminated”. The city is now encircled by the invading army, and local officials say Russian troops are now issuing movement passes. “Without which next week it will be impossible not only to move between districts of the city but also on the streets,” reports say. Russia hasn’t limited its attention to Mariupol – it has also targeted other cities in recent days, including Lviv in the west, Kharkiv in the northeast, and Mykolaiv near the southern port of Odessa on the Black Sea.

WHAT DOES ZELENSKY WANT NOW?
He wants weapons, and he wants them as soon as possible. That’s because Ukrainian troops are gearing up for Russia’s new offensive in the Donbas region, which is expected to be bloody and decisive. Zelensky also wants US President Joe Biden to come to Ukraine to see the situation for himself, but Biden said last week that he was working with his team to determine if he should dispatch a senior administration member. It comes after UK PM Boris Johnson travelled to Kyiv and pledged more money and equipment to the war effort. Zelensky has also invited French President Emmanuel Macron to visit, who is juggling his diplomatic role with a looming election. “Macron has been reluctant to use the word genocide, stating earlier that he was ‘not sure what an escalation of rhetoric serves that cause.’ He’ll come and see, and I’m sure he will understand,” Zelensky said yesterday.