(#4835) So close to rescuing the steel mill fighters in Mariupol

      I had hoped as of this writing that I could talk about the rescue of the steel mill fighters in Mariupol being rescued. But not yet as there is a delay for now. I hope the delay is insignificant and these brave fighters and innocent citizens can be removed from this last stand. Much like the Alamo, but without the same outcome, the odds were high they were not going to survive but as each day goes by and they continued to hold out, the odds are getting better for them. Because the Ukrainian rescuers were refitted with better armaments a rescue is possible and at this point the rescue is still imminent, yet, not yet.
     The effect that these last holdouts in Mariupol are having for the morale of the Ukrainian nation is palpably inspirational. It isn't that the Ukrainian forces aren't inspired to begin with it is just that every bit of good news does help to bolster the will to defeat putin and destroy his army. The fact that these fighters and innocent civilians are still clinging to their lives is also just another heroic chapter in the magnificent story of the extraordinary Ukrainian effort to defend their right to exist. What we on the outside are getting glimpses of are beyond what we expected and instead we are all being schooled on what it takes to not only stand up to long odds but to likely prevail against them.
     Within the next few days I surely expect the rescue of the steel mill fighters to happen and then the slow slog to recapture Mariupol itself. The crushing defeat of not being able to take Mariupol or keep it under Russian control will likely do putin in. He is already feeling the heat from his inner circle to win his criminal invasion of Ukraine and their patience is sorely being tried as putin is now in his 3rd month of what is looking like his Waterloo. I cannot express more profoundly the necessity of making this rescue happen and getting to know how the Ukrainian forces operate once they do go for the rescue, it will happen. This invasion will not be able to sustain itself if Russia cannot hold Mariupol.