Russia says it has ‘liberated Mariupol’, except for the Azovstal factory

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on April 21 that the city of Mariupol had been captured, but there were still about 2,000 Ukrainian gunmen entrenched in the Azovstal steel plant and estimated that it would take another 3-4 days to complete the task. Shoigu said more than 142,000 civilians were evacuated and more than 1,400 fighters surrendered, according to RT.

Damaged buildings in Mariupol Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian soldiers not to storm the Azovstal factory because of the risk of loss of force. Instead, he wants the factory to be completely sealed off so that no flies can get through.

“The proposal to storm the industrial park is unnecessary. I order you to cancel it. There is no need to climb into the tunnels beneath these industrial facilities. Blocking the area will not let a fly fly. can’t get through,” Putin instructed Shoigu during a meeting in the Kremlin Live show.

Azovstal Steel Plant, where the remaining members of Ukraine are still entrenched Reuters

Putin also called on the remaining Ukrainian troops in Azovstal to surrender and pledged that they would be treated with respect and that the wounded would be treated.

Ukraine has not yet responded to Russia’s latest statements. Earlier, Ukrainian forces in the Azovstal factory ignored calls from Russia to give up weapons.

The Ukrainian side said there are still many civilians trapped in Azovstal. Maksym Zhorin, commander of one of the Ukrainian units in Mariupol, said on April 21 that Russia continued to shell the city while the two sides negotiated the evacuation of civilians, according to CNN. Moscow has not commented on the allegation. Late on April 20, Ukrainian forces in Azovstal announced that they would only leave with the support of a third party.