Russia Resumes Attack on Mariupol Steel Plant, Key Stronghold in Ukraine Defense

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-ho Kim] On the 23rd (local time), Russian forces resumed their attack on the Azovstal steel plant in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, according to major foreign media reports.

Oleksiy Arestovych, an advisor to the Ukrainian presidential office, announced through Ukrainian state broadcasting on the same day that "the enemy is trying to eliminate the last resistance of the Mariupol defenders at Azovstal," confirming the resumption of Russian airstrikes.

The Azovstal steel plant is where Ukraine's paramilitary organization, the Azov Regiment, and the Marines are making a last stand with a defensive perimeter. It is known that about 2,000 people, including military personnel and civilians, remain there.

Earlier, President Vladimir Putin declared on the 21st that Mariupol was effectively captured and ordered that Azovstal be "sealed off so that not even a fly can pass through."

Mariupol is a strategic key point connecting the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists claim independence, and the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.

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