Russia's seizure of Mariupol would enable it to go on to create a “land bridge” from eastern Ukraine to Crimea, a senior US defence official said on Tuesday.
But the official said Moscow had not yet won full control of the battered city and that Mariupol remained “contested” despite an intense Russian bombardment for the last six weeks.
On Tuesday, Russia’s Defence Ministry set an almost immediate deadline for Ukrainian soldiers in the city to surrender. But so far the Pentagon has seen no signs of capitulation, the official said.
“We believe the Russians want [Mariupol] for a number of reasons, One is giving them an unencumbered land bridge from the Donbas to Crimea,” the official said.
Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014. A Russian-controlled passage south-west along the Sea of Azov coast from Mariupol to Crimea would also provide Moscow with greater flexibility in its Donbas offensive, the Pentagon said.
Moscow heavily outnumbers Ukrainian forces in Mariupol and across the broader Donbas region, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pleading with the West for more weapons to counter the invaders.
But the defence official said the fall of Mariupol and Russia's capture of the Donbas region were not foregone conclusions.
“We don't see it that way, and we're doing everything we can to make sure that it's not inevitable,” the official said.
The official did not deny Ukrainian and Russian claims that Moscow has begun its offensive in eastern Ukraine, but said operations so far were “limited” in nature.
“We think that this is a prelude of larger offensive operations that are potentially still in the offing here,” the official said.
The Pentagon also said Ukraine's military had received additional aircraft as well parts for repairs to get damaged aircraft flying again, but retracted the claim on Wednesday after the Ukrainian air force said it had not received any additional planes.
Ukraine has defied expectations of allies and military experts by not only keeping its air force operational nearly two months after the start of Russia's invasion but actually repairing aircraft and, apparently, adding to its inventory.
The Pentagon estimates Russia has launched more than 1,670 missiles into Ukraine and has 78 battalion tactical groups in the country, with two added in the last 24 hours.
Regarding US plans to defend Finland against Russian aggression if it joins Nato, the official said: “We do not see an active threat right now to Finland and there's been no request by Finland for any outside support for their defence.”
Last week, former Russian prime minister and deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, gave a warning to Nato that if Sweden and Finland were to join the alliance, Russia would deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles in the Baltic Sea.
“There can be no more talk of any nuclear-free status for the Baltic,” Mr Medvedev said.
The official said the Pentagon could not independently verify claims that the Ukrainian town of Kreminna had fallen to the Russians.
The official said US deliveries of howitzer artillery systems to Ukraine were now being “prioritised” and “you will begin to see them arrive in the region very, very soon”.
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A sign that reads 'Children' is fixed on to a car windscreen riddled with bulletholes in Irpin, Ukraine. AFP -
A woman weeps next to her husband's coffin at a cemetery in Irpin. AFP -
Residents walk amid debris of a charred Russian tank next to destroyed houses in the village of Zalissya. AFP -
Volunteers distribute food to residents in Zalissya. AFP -
A man walks past a damaged apartment building in the southern port city of Mariupol. Reuters -
Tamara, 71, cries in front of a destroyed apartment building in Mariupol. Reuters -
Local residents push a cart with a child past destroyed buildings in Mariupol. Reuters -
A record player sits among debris inside an apartment in Mariupol. Reuters -
Residents carry belongings past a destroyed building in Mariupol. Reuters -
Security guards help an injured man following a Russian bombing of a factory in Kramatorsk. AP -
A man receives first aid treatment. AP -
Soldiers collect explosives after recent battles in the village of Moshchun, close to Kyiv. AP -
The Komodor logistics park lies in ruins after being bombed and burnt during the Russian invasion near Makarov. Getty Images -
A room in a kindergarten stands windowless in Makarov. Getty Images -
A vehicle draped with a Ukrainian flag passes over a war-damaged bridge in Makarov. Getty Images -
A man sits in a basement that was used as a bomb shelter in the village of Kukhari. EPA -
Local residents clean the area around a destroyed farm in Kukhari. EPA -
Nadia looks at her husband's coffin at a cemetery in Bucha. He was killed during the war. AFP -
Mangled buildings in Irpin point to the ravages of the ongoing war. Getty Images -
A burnt apartment tower in Irpin. Getty Images -
Family members grieve during the funeral of Ruslan Nechyporenko, 47, in Bucha. Getty Images -
An abandoned Russian military position in Borodyanka town near Kyiv. EPA -
Heavily pregnant Dr Marta Kopan, who fled Kyiv with her husband Dr Maxim Motsya and their three-year-old son Makar, narrates their ordeal at a relative's place in Lviv. AP -
A Ukrainian officer searches for unexploded explosives as he passes by an Antonov An-225, the world's biggest cargo aircraft, destroyed during the war on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP -
A woman stands amid the destruction caused when a civilian building was hit by a Russian missile in Lviv, western Ukraine. Getty Images -
Ukrainian soldiers on an armoured personnel carrier, near the front line with Russian troops, in Izyum district, Kharkiv region, north-eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Ukrainian refugees arrive at the Siret border crossing between Romania and Ukraine. AFP -
Ukranian soldiers in a trench look out across the front line near Kharkiv. AFP -
Cars destroyed in Russian attacks, in Irpin, near Kyiv. The scene of fierce fighting, the town was occupied by Russian forces. Reuters -
Damaged and destroyed vehicles at Illich Iron and Steel Works Metallurgical Plant, in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatists in besieged south-eastern city Mariupol. AP -
Russian military vehicles in an area controlled by Moscow-backed separatists near Mariupol. AP -
An elderly woman waits do be evacuated from a hospice in Chasiv Yar city, in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. At least 35 residents have been helped to flee from the region that has been under attack for weeks. AP -
A Ukrainian Interior Ministry serviceman collects unexploded shells, grenades and mines, following fierce fighting in Hostomel. AP
This story was updated on April 20 to reflect Pentagon correction.
