According to its own statements, Russia has taken the embattled city.
(Photo: Reuters)
Moscow According to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the Russian military has taken control of the embattled port city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine. This was announced by Shoigu on Thursday at a meeting with Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin that was broadcast on state television. “The remaining Ukrainian combat units entrenched themselves in the industrial area of the Azovvtal factory,” Shoigu said.
President Putin ordered not to storm the Azovstal steel plant. A corresponding order should be withdrawn. All prisoners are guaranteed life, Putin said. He spoke of a success and the “liberation of Mariupol” and ordered the military involved to be decorated. “They are all heroes,” Putin said.
According to Shoigu, the Ukrainian units are completely blocked. The minister assured that the factory should also be taken in three to four days. The minister said that nobody left the plant via the humanitarian corridors that were offered. Earlier, the Ukrainian side proposed negotiations on the fate of the fighters and the rescue of civilians who had taken refuge in the plant.
More: Read the current developments in the Ukraine war in the live blog
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