Mariupol’s resistance fighters’ last stand under fire
KYIV: Civilians including women and children will need to be dug from bunkers under a steel works that is the last holdout of resistance in Ukraine’s Mariupol, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said yesterday, as Russian forces pressed their assault.
After failing to capture the capital Kyiv in the early weeks of a war that has killed thousands and flattened cities, Russia has accelerated attacks on Ukraine’s east and south, where the Azov Sea port of Mariupol is among its main targets.
Russia declared victory over Mariupol on April 21 after weeks of siege and shelling. The city is key to Moscow’s efforts to cut Ukraine off from the Black Sea — vital for grain and metals exports — and link Russiancontrolled territory.
About 200 civilians, as well as Ukrainian fighters, are still holed up in a network of underground bunkers in Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant, Ukrainian officials said.
Russia last night said its artillery struck several Ukrainian positions and strongholds early yesterday, killing more than 600 fighters.
‘‘The armed forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation in Ukraine,’’ the defence ministry said. ‘‘Over 600 nationalists and 61 units of weapons and military equipment were destroyed’’.
The defence ministry also said its missiles destroyed aviation equipment at the Kanatovo airfield in Ukraine’s central Kirovohrad region and a large ammunition depot in the southern city of Mykolaiv.
Ukrainian fighters in Azovstal were fighting ‘‘difficult, bloody battles’’ against Russian troops, a Ukraine regiment officer said yesterday. — Reuters