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By:
Associated Press
- 5 May 2022 23:53
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Fierce fighting broke out at the Mariupol steel plant on Thursday as Russian forces attempted to break through the last line of Ukrainian defense and complete the capture of the strategic port.
The battle has been fought amid suspicions that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to present Russians with a victory trophy in time for Victory Day on Monday. It is the patriotic holiday in the Russian calendar that marks the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany.
In ten weeks of devastating war, the Ukrainian army has regained control of several areas in the south and east, complicating Putin's ambitions after failing to take control of Kiev.
Ukrainian and Russian forces have been fighting in each village, as Moscow has failed to build momentum in Donbas, Ukraine's industrial heartland of the east. This region is now the main target of the Kremlin.
In the biggest example of Ukrainian resistance to Russian forces are 2 soldiers, who are positioned in the tunnels and bunkers of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, the last fortification that has been reduced to rubble during the bombing of the past two months. It is believed that more than 1 thousand civilians were sheltered in this factory.
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The last Ukrainian fortification in the port city falls
"The Russian army entered the territory of Azovstal, but they were pushed back by our defenders," said Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. "We can say that the battle is continuing."
The Kremlin has denied that the army entered the territory of the factory.
A Ukrainian official inside the factory has called on Western countries to pressure Russia to allow the evacuation of civilians and the wounded. Over the past weekend, nearly 100 civilians were evacuated.
In the last 24 hours, 5 people died and 25 others were injured from the bombings in Donbas. Dozens of houses and a school were destroyed by the bombings.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War has announced that Ukrainian forces have succeeded in blocking the Russian advance in eastern Ukraine, while missile attacks on transport infrastructure in the western part of the country have failed to stop the supply of weapons to Ukraine. .
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Inside the destroyed and occupied Azovstal
The Ukrainian government has started with proposals for the state's recovery plan, as President Zelenskyy has called on Western allies to draw up a plan similar to the "Marshall Plan" of the Second World War, in order to help Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Belarus announced the start of military exercises on Wednesday, fueling fears that Russia's ally could join the war. The British Ministry of Defense has stated that the exercises do not pose an immediate threat to Ukraine, but would be used to prevent Ukrainian forces in the north from continuing the battle in Donbas.
