Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia’s military operation in Ukraine is “continuing according to plan” even though President Vladimir Putin has ordered his forces not to storm the Azovstal steel plant, the last stronghold of Ukrainian forces in the port city of Mariupol.
Peskov explained to reporters Thursday that “there was and remains an opportunity for the Ukrainian forces to lay down their weapons and get out through the corridors that have been opened.”
“The operation is continuing according to plan,” he said, noting that Mariupol has been liberated.
Asked whether the order not to storm the steel plant represented a change of plans, he said, “This is a separate facility, where the remaining group of Ukrainian nationalists have been completely surrounded.”
Plans to storm the Azovstal steel plant
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered the Russian army to Plans to storm the Azovstal steel plant In the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, he said he wanted the blockade to continue safely instead, adding that it was necessary to cordon off “the area in such a way that not a single fly could pass”.
The Russian President congratulated Defense Minister Sergio Shoigu on Successful operation in Mariupol, UkraineHe said that the control of Mariupol was carried out successfully and there is no need to storm the industrial zone in Mariupol.
Putin also stressed that Russia guarantees not to be disturbed and to treat Ukrainian forces leaving the Azovstal facility with respect.
For his part, the Russian Defense Minister told Putin that the situation in Mariupol is calm and allows the return of civilians, pointing to the Russian forces’ control of Mariupol completely, with the exception of the Azovstal factory, where there are still Ukrainian fighters in the factory.
He added that members of the Ukrainian armed formations in Mariupol had weapons capable of reaching Russian regions.
Shoigu stated that at the moment of the encirclement of Mariupol, the number of Ukrainian forces and foreign mercenaries was about 8,100, and added that during the liberation of the city, more than 4,000 of them were eliminated, 1,478 others surrendered, while the remaining group of more than 2,000 militants was surrounded in an area Azovstal Industrial.
And entered the Russian military operation in Ukraine, today, Thursday, Its 57th day for the Russian army to continue destroying the Ukrainian military infrastructureamid the ongoing battles for the liberation of the Donbass lands.
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov announced that Russian forces will take complete control of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, today, Thursday.
“Before or after lunchtime, the Azovstal (factory) will be under the complete control of the Russian forces,” Kadyrov said in an audio message posted on the Internet early Thursday (local time). This comes as Chechen forces are fighting in Ukraine as part of the Russian army’s operations there.