New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered his forces not to storm the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in the besieged city of Mariupol.
As per the Associated Press, he asked the Russian troops to block it instead "so that not even a fly comes through."
Earlier, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Vladimir Putin that the sprawling Azovstal steel plant where Ukrainian forces were holed up was securely blocked.
"The rest of the city was liberated and Putin hailed that as a success," he said, as reported by AP.
With the plant in Ukrainian hands, the Russians cannot declare complete victory in Mariupol, a city that has both strategic and symbolic importance.
Mariupol has seen some of the most dramatic fighting in the armed conflict as it is a vital port for Ukraine, a land bridge between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula.
Ukrainian officials are yet to comment on the Russian statement.
Earlier, four buses with civilians managed to escape from the city after several unsuccessful attempts, the AP reported Ukraine as stating.
Thousands more remain trapped in the city reduced to a smoking ruin in a nearly two-month siege, with over 20,000 people feared dead.
Important Updates so far:
- Notably, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had warned in a video address overnight that the Russians were not abandoning their attempts to score at least some victory by launching a new, large-scale offensive.
- The Kyiv regional police said on Thursday that two mass graves with nine bodies were discovered in the city of Borodyanka, northwest of the capital.
As per the Associated Press, Head of the Kyiv regional police Andriy Nebytov said that two women and a teenager were among the civilians killed by the Russian occupiers.
"I want to stress that these people are civilians. The Russian military deliberately shot civilians that didn't put up any resistance and didn't pose any threat," Nebytov said, further stating that some of the victims were apparently tortured.
- Russia has said that it launched hundreds of missile and air attacks on targets that included concentrations of troops and vehicles.
Kremlin's stated goal is the capture of the Donbas, the mostly Russian-speaking eastern region that is home to coal mines, metal plants, and heavy-equipment factories. Seizing Donbas can give Putin a badly needed victory two months into the "special military operation", after the unsuccessful attempt to storm the Ukrainian capital city Kyiv. - Days after Putin said the talks were at a dead-end, Russia has also stated that it presented Ukraine with a draft document putting forth its demands for ending the conflict.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that "the ball is in their court, we're waiting for a response", AP reported. No details were revealed about the draft, and it is unclear if the proposal offered anything new to the Ukrainians, who presented their own demands last month.
Zelenskyy claimed that he had not seen or heard of the proposal while one of his top advisers said the Ukrainian side was reviewing it.
Moscow has been demanding that Ukraine drop any bid to join NATO. Ukraine in return seeks security guarantees from other countries.
Other unresolved issues include the status of both the Crimean Peninsula, seized by Moscow in 2014, and eastern Ukraine, where the separatists declared independent republics recognised by Russia.
Meanwhile, as per the AP, over 100,000 people overall were believed to be trapped in Mariupol with little to no food, water, medicine, or heat. The port city's pre-war population was 400,000.
(With Agency Inputs)