Russia has stepped up efforts to seize control of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, claiming victory in the battle for the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.
Russian forces have also launched military offensives in Luhansk province. The last Ukrainian forces trapped in Azovstal surrendered on May 20, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
This announcement came after devastating attacks that left the whole of Mariupol under rubble.
There are concerns that about 20,000 people have died in this city.
“The factory premises, where the militants were hiding, are under the full control of the Russian armed forces,” the ministry said in a statement.
It said 531 people had recently surrendered, bringing to 2,439 the total number of Ukrainian defenders leaving the plant.
Ukraine has not confirmed such a thing, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said earlier that defenders in Azovstal have received a clear message from military command that they can step out and save their lives.
Russia has also launched what appears to be a major offensive to seize control of Luhansk province.
“The Russian army has launched an intense campaign of destruction in the town of Sievierodonetsk, the number of bombings has doubled, there are shellings in residential buildings,” Luhansk Governor Serhiy Hayday told his Telegram channel.
In the early hours of May 21, air sirens were heard in large parts of Ukraine, including the capital Kiev and the southern Odessa region.
The General Staff of Ukraine has said that it has responded to the offensive in Sievierodonetsk.
It has been important for Russia to take control of Mariupol, a city on the Sea of Azov, to establish a land corridor with the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014, as well as to allow military troops to cross easily in the battle to control the Donbas region.
Zelensky has said Russia should be forced to pay for every house, school, hospital and business destroyed.
Russia “would feel the real weight of every missile and bomb that has been launched at us,” Zelensky said in a video address.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered on February 24 what he calls a “special military operation” to demilitarize Ukraine.
The West has responded with harsh sanctions against Russia, targeting the state’s economy and Russian oligarchs.REL
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