KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – With the number of defenders left holed up in a Mariupol steel factory dwindling, Russian commanders will be coming under increasing pressure to reallocate troops from the strategic southern port city to bolster their offensive in eastern Ukraine, Britain’s Defense Ministry said Friday.
More than 1,700 defenders of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol have surrendered since Monday, Russian authorities said, in what appeared to be the final stage in the nearly three-month siege of the now-pulverized port city.
In fighting in the eastern Donbas region, 12 people were killed and 60 houses destroyed when Russia shelled the neighboring cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, northwest of Luhansk, regional governor Serhiy Haidai said in a Telegram post Friday.
In addition to Thursday’s artillery attack, Russian ground troops attempted to assault Severodonetsk but took losses and retreated, Ukraine’s General Staff said in its morning update.
In Mariupol, an unknown number of defenders remain in the sprawling Azovstal complex, which is the last bastion of Ukrainian resistance in the city – a target from the start of the invasion that has been under effective Russian control for some time.