Ukraine Says Russian Forces Are Trying To Storm Azovstal Plant

Ukrainian officials say Russian forces attempted to storm the Ukrainian-held Azovstal steel plant in the besieged southeastern city of Mariupol on Sunday.

Serhiy Volyna, commander of Ukraine’s 36th Marine brigade forces in Mariupol, said in an interview with an opposition lawmaker that was shown on YouTube on Sunday that Russia was hitting the complex with air and artillery bombardments.

This comes despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments last week that the complex did not need to be taken.

Ukraine’s armed forces command wrote on Facebook that Russian forces were firing and performing “offensive operations” in the Azovstal area, as well as conducting air strikes on civilian infrastructure.

Konstantin Ivaschenko, the official who has been designated mayor of Mariupol by Russia but not recognised as such by Ukraine, denied that any fighting was taking place in the city in comments reported by Russian news outlet TASS on Sunday.

The Azovstal steel factory is the main remaining Ukrainian stronghold in Mariupol, a city that has seen sustained bombardment since the start of the Russian invasion on Feb. 24.

Earlier on Sunday, Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych wrote on Facebook that “Russian troops are trying to finish off the defenders of Azovstal and more than 1,000 civilians who are hiding at the plant”.

Russia has denied targetting civilians in what it calls a “special military operation” to demilitarise and “denazify” Ukraine.