BREAKING: Russia says the country’s forces have taken full control of the steel plant in Mariupol that was the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in the city, marking the end of a nearly three-month siege that left over 20,000 people feared dead.
Still, military analysts said the city’s capture at this point holds more symbolic importance than anything else, since Mariupol was already effectively under Moscow’s control and most of the Russian forces that were tied down by the drawn-out fighting there have already left.
The city endured some of the worst suffering of the war and became a worldwide symbol of defiance. An estimated 100,000 people remained from a prewar population of 450,000, many trapped without food, water, heat or electricity. Relentless bombardment left behind rows and rows of shattered or hollowed-out buildings.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that the evacuation of his forces from the bunkers and tunnels beneath Azovstal was done to save the lives of the fighters.The Azovstal complex covers 11 square kilometers and is threaded with about 24 kilometers of tunnels and bunkers. Earlier in May, hundreds of civilians were evacuated from the plant during humanitarian cease-fires.
Natalia Zaritskaya, wife of another fighter at Azovstal, said that based on the messages she had seen over the past two days, “Now they are on the path from hell to hell. Every inch of this path is deadly.” — Russia will cut off natural gas to Finland on Saturday, the Finnish state energy company said, just days after Finland applied to join NATO. Finland had refused Moscow’s demand that it pay for gas in rubles. The cutoff is not expected to have any major immediate effect. Natural gas accounted for just 6% of Finland’s total energy consumption in 2020, Finnish broadcaster YLE said.
Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk, said Russian forces were especially focused on the Lysychansk-Bakhmut highway, the only road for evacuating people and delivering humanitarian supplies.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russia fires top commanders over Ukraine war failuresRussia has fired senior military commanders in recent weeks 'who are considered to have performed poorly during the opening stages of its invasion of Ukraine,' the U.K. Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence update.
Read more »
More Ukraine fighters surrender in Mariupol, Russia saysMoscow said nearly 700 more Ukrainian fighters had surrendered in Russian-held Mariupol as it shored up a key gain in the south, while the United States became the latest Western country to reopen its embassy in Kyiv.
Read more »
Zelenskyy says Donbas region completely destroyed; Russia likely to swiftly redeploy Mariupol forcesUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces have completely destroyed the eastern Donbas region.
Read more »
Live blog: Russia uses laser weapons amid missile shortage, alleges UkraineZelenskyy alleges Russia is using laser weapons after firing more than 2,000 missiles leading to their shortage during its ongoing aggression on Ukraine, where fighting enters its 85th day Follow our live coverage:👇
Read more »
Russia uses a new 'laser weapon' in Ukraine to counter dronesUkraine has relied heavily on drones to counter Russian aggression. Now Russia may be attempting to quell the resistance with its laser weapons.
Read more »