Kyiv, Russian forces pressured a stubborn pocket of resistance in Mariupol amid renewed hopes for an evacuation of thousands of civilians from the shattered port city that is a key battleground in Moscow’s new onslaught to take control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland.
In addition to pounding Mariupol, Russian forces have intensified their attacks along a boomerang-shaped front hundreds of miles long in what is known as the Donbas, home to coal mines, metal plants and factories vital to Ukraine’s economy.
Russian Defense Ministry today said its forces kept up intense attacks on Ukrainian targets, hitting 1,053 with artillery and 73 with airstrikes. Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov also said there had been missile strikes on concentrations of Ukrainian troops and vehicles in the Kherson Region in southern Ukraine.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s military said in a statement that taking control of the Azovstal steel mill and thus fully capturing Mariupol remains a top Russian priority. But it added that Moscow’s forces were continuing to mount offensives across the east as its forces probe for weak points in the Ukrainian defensive lines.
Source: Oman News Agency
