Russia attacks a steel plant in Mariupol again

Ukrainian sources reported that Russian forces resumed their attacks on the site of the Azov steel plant in Mariupol. Oleksiy Aristovich, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, said on television that they attacked the factory buildings from the air and tried to storm the facilities controlled by Ukrainian forces. The Ukrainian authorities had previously confirmed that an escape corridor would be established for the besieged coastal city.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the storming of steel plants should stop for now, and impose a blockade instead. As Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Irina Verychuk announced, the evacuations should begin at noon. “Today we will once again try to bring women, children and the elderly back to safety,” Vereshock wrote on social media.

In the past few days, repeated attempts have been made to evacuate civilians from the city. However, these efforts failed several times. Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the failure. According to its own data, Russia now has “full control” of the port city in southeastern Ukraine. Nevertheless, Ukrainian soldiers and fighters from the Azov National Regiment still resided in the vast Azovstal steelworks complex. In addition, civilians are said to be hiding in the factory.

According to the Ukrainian news agency “Ukrinform”, children are said to be among them. This was shown in a video posted by Azov fighters and shared on the Western Air Command’s Facebook page.