MARIUPOL HEROES DEFY PUTIN FORCES

RUSSIANS ‘CALL OFF’ BID TO SEIZE STRONGHOLD AFTER ASTONISHING SHOW OF RESISTANCE

- Nicholas Cecil and Will Stewart

UKRAINIAN fighters were holding out in the besieged city of Mariupol on day 57 of the Russian invasion today as Vladimir Putin announced he was calling off attempts to storm their stronghold.

The Russian president said that instead he was ordering his troops to block the sprawling Azovstal steel plant where Ukrainian forces were still holed up “so that not even a fly comes through”. Mr Putin’s move marked a staggering show of resistance by Ukrainian forces against the barbaric invasion which has seen his plans to seize the country, including Kyiv, within days collapse into failure.

As the Kremlin desperately seeks to claim military successes, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu said the rest of the southern port city beyond the steel plant had been “liberated”.

Mr Putin hailed that as a “success” but his decision appeared to have been to avoid further heavy losses among Russian troops. It was still possible, though, that his announcement could be a bluff before unleashing a final onslaught in Mariupol.

The besieged Ukrainian marines had warned that they were within days, or even hours, of being overwhelmed having run low on ammunition, food and other supplies.

The failure to capture the steel plant denies Mr Putin the ability to declare complete victory in Mariupol, where thousands of civilians are reported to have been killed by intense Russian shelling and air strikes. Its fall would deprive Ukraine of a vital port, complete a land bridge between Russia and the annexed Crimean peninsula and free up more Russian troops to move elsewhere in the Donbas.