‘Surrounded’ Mariupol Commander Begs for International Help to Evacuate

A Ukrainian commander trapped in Mariupol, calling the situation “critical,” requested an international evacuation effort to get civilians and troops out of part of the besieged port city on Tuesday. “Hundreds of civilians” and many wounded troops were “completely surrounded,” according to Maj. Serhii Volyna, sheltering in the massive Azovstal steel factory, and subject to heavy bombardment and dwindling food, water, and medical supplies. In a phone call with CNN’s Clarissa Ward, Volyna said, “I have a statement to the world. It may be my last statement, because we have only a few days, or even hours, left. We appeal to world leaders to apply the extraction procedure to the military of the Mariupol garrison, to the civilians who are with us here at the plant.” Volyna asked that the remaining population of the plant be securely transported to a third-party country via a ship, helicopters, or a protected humanitarian mission. “The city is destroyed,” he said. “Enemy groups outnumber us dozens of times, they have a complete advantage in air, artillery, equipment, manpower. We fight to the last, but we have very little time left.”