Russian soldiers resumed attacks on the Azovstal factory in the Ukrainian coastal city of Mariupol on Saturday, the latest source of resistance where Ukrainian soldiers refuse to surrender. An adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced this, news agencies AP and Reuters report. Air strikes are said to have been carried out and Russian troops are trying to storm the factory.
Earlier this week, Moscow said it had successfully conquered Mariupol. Only the Azovstal factory was still in the hands of the Ukrainian army, although the Russian armed forces have surrounded the site. Earlier, Kiev said there are an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian military personnel entrenched in the property. About a thousand civilians are also said to be hiding in cellars and tunnels under the complex.
Mariupol has been under fire for weeks. Before the invasion about 400,000 people lived there, probably about 100,000 civilians still reside in the city. Mariupol is located south of Donetsk and has a strategic location: between the border of Russia and Crimea, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014. The Kremlin seems keen to conquer the city in order to establish a land connection between Crimea and southwestern Russia.
The location of Mariupol:
This article is also part of our live blog: Zelensky threatens to end negotiations with Moscow