Mariupol has no plans for Victory Day celebrations: Kremlin

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Friday that there would be no Victory Day festivities in Mariupol, Ukraine’s vital port city, which Russian soldiers captured last month.

Victory Day, observed annually on May 9, is a symbolic holiday in Russia commemorating the Soviet victory in World War II, with a big military parade in Moscow and smaller celebrations in other Russian towns.

“A time will come and there will be a big celebration there,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that no official visits were planned for the day.

“There will certainly be Russians there, and there will be many Russians on May 9, but I don’t know about any official delegation,” Peksov added.

Mariupol was besieged by Russian soldiers for many weeks, and hundreds are estimated to have perished as a result of the city’s lack of food, water, and electricity.

Some Ukrainian military and citizens are holed up at the city’s enormous Azovstal steel complex, hiding in a Soviet-era network of underground tunnels.

The Russian army had promised a three-day truce at the steelworks beginning Thursday to allow residents to flee, but a Ukrainian general said Moscow had broken that commitment.

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