This is stated in a report by the Minister of Defense to Putin
Russian forces have completely taken over the key Black Sea port city of Mariupol, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. However, more than 2,000 Ukrainian fighters are still at the Azovstal plant in the city, he added, quoted by Russia Today.
According to the minister, about 8,100 Ukrainian soldiers, foreign mercenaries and nationalist fighters, including members of the famous Azov Battalion, remained inside the encirclement of Mariupol in early March.
“More than 1,400 fighters have laid down their arms,” Shoigu said, adding that more than 142,000 civilians had also been evacuated from the city, which has been under siege for weeks.
According to Shoigu, Russian forces and militias from the republics in Donbass will need three to four days to take over the Azovstal plant. In recent days, Russia has twice tried to create a humanitarian corridor for those wishing to leave the plant, but both attempts failed.
Against this background, the Russian president called the assault on the Azovstal industrial zone unjustified and ordered its abolition. He demanded that the industrial zone be blocked so that “not a fly would fly”. Putin explained the cancellation of the Azovstal assault with considerations for the protection of the lives of the Russian military.
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