Block off Mariupol Even fly can't get through or out
Vladimir Putin has ordered his forces not to storm the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in the besieged city of Mariupol, after his defence minister admitted that the Russian army was still fighting thousands of Ukrainian troops there.
The Russian president described a plan to storm the Azovstal steelworks as “impractical” and called instead for Russian troops to blockade the area “so that a fly can’t get through”.
The declaration came during a meeting at the Kremlin, where the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, presented a report to Putin about the closely watched battle for the Ukrainian port city and claimed that the city had been “liberated”, although fighting was ongoing.
He said it would take several more days for the Russians to defeat the Ukrainians fighting at the steelworks, a sprawling mass of tunnels and workshops spread over four square miles in the south-east of the city.
The meeting appeared to be orchestrated in order for the Russians to step back from the assault on the steelworks, which has been stymied by a fierce Ukrainian resistance and the difficulties of operating in the industrial area.
Leaving the plant in Ukrainian hands robs the Russians of the ability to declare complete victory in Mariupol. The city’s capture has strategic and symbolic importance.
“This is the case when we have to think, that is, we always have to think, and in this case even more so, about preserving the lives and health of our soldiers and officers,” Putin said. “There is no need to climb into these catacombs and crawl underground through these industrial facilities.”
Russia had decided to blockade the plant because it cannot take it by force, Oleksiy Arestovych, Ukraine’s presidential adviser said. “They physically cannot take Azovstal, they have understood this, they have taken huge losses there. Our defenders continue to hold it.”
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