Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that he offered the defenders of Mariupol to leave the city because of the extremely difficult situation. He explained that he spoke to the military in the city and gave them a choice. He said this in an interview with Russian journalists.
"I understand how it looks to the military. They said that ... But I gave them the right to choose. They said, 'We can't [leave the city]. There are wounded people here. We're not leaving the wounded." Moreover, they said, "We will not leave the dead. To make you understand: there are corpses lying on the roads, on the sidewalks in the city. There are just corpses lying around - no one is cleaning them up - of Russian soldiers and Ukrainian citizens," the president said.
He said that the city is under the control of the Ukrainian military, but they, along with civilians, are surrounded. Russia does not give humanitarian corridors and takes people to the occupied territories. They are being held as "souls for the exchange fund," according to the president.
