Putin says Russia have taken Mariupol even as Ukraine troops remain

MOSCOW (AFP, REUTERS) - President Vladimir Putin declared that Russia had seized Ukraine’s Mariupol after his defence minister told him Moscow controlled the southern port city apart from the giant Azovstal steel plant.

"Taking control of such an important centre in the South as Mariupol is a success," Mr Putin said in a televised meeting on Thursday (April 21) with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Mariupol would be the biggest city yet taken by Russia in its two-month invasion and is key to asserting control over the Donbas region and linking it by land with Crimea, the region it has occupied since 2014. 

"Mariupol has been liberated," Mr Shoigu told Mr Putin. "The remaining nationalist formations took refuge in the industrial zone of the Azovstal plant."

President Putin on Thursday also ordered the Russian military to cancel plans to storm the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol and said he wanted it to continue to be hermetically blockaded instead.

Mr Putin gave the order to his defence minister Shoigu, who had previously told the Russian president that more than 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were still holed up in the vast plant, which has a large underground component to it.

"I consider the proposed storming of the industrial zone unnecessary," Mr Putin told Mr Shoigu at the Kremlin. "I order you to cancel it."

Mr Putin said his decision not to storm the Azovstal plant was motivated by the desire to safeguard the lives of Russian soldiers.

"There is no need to climb into these catacombs and crawl underground through these industrial facilities," he said. "Block off this industrial area so that a fly cannot not pass through."

Mr Putin also called on the remaining Ukrainian fighters in Azovstal who had not yet surrendered, saying Russia would treat them with respect and would provide medical assistance to those injured.

Russia’s announcement of victory came a day after the Ukrainian marine brigade commander defending Azovstal warned that his forces were heavily outnumbered and "we are probably facing our last days, if not hours" in the city that’s been largely destroyed by Russian bombardment.

Mr Shoigu told Mr Putin that Mariupol had symbolic importance for Russia because it was what he called the de facto headquarters of the far-right nationalist Azov battalion which Moscow has promised to destroy.

The Azovstal iron and steel works, one of Europe’s biggest metallurgical plants, lies in an industrial area that looks out to the Sea of Azov. It houses a multitude of buildings, blast furnaces and rail tracks and has extensive underground facilities too. 

Thousands of civilians are believed to have died in Mariupol, which was besieged by Russian troops for over a month, with little access to food, water and with no electricity.

Mr Putin congratulated his defence minister for what he called the successful military operation to "liberate Mariupol" and asked him to pass on his thanks to Russian troops.

"I want them all to know: in our minds, in the minds of all of Russia, they are heroes," Mr Putin said.

Russia is due to celebrate its annual victory day holiday on May 9, when it commemorates the World War Two Soviet victory over Nazi Germany and is likely to hold up the full capture of Mariupol when it happens as proof that it is making gains in 
Ukraine despite heavy losses.

Mr Shoigu told Mr Putin that Russia had killed more than 4,000 Ukrainian troops in its campaign to take Mariupol and that 1,478 had given themselves up. He said Russia had evacuated 142,711 civilians from the city too.

Mr Putin asked Mr Shoigu for his ministry to come up with new proposals on supporting Russian troops fighting in Ukraine. 

"We need to think about additional support measures, and in some cases, about perpetuating the memory of our comrades who showed heroism and sacrificed their lives for the peaceful life of our people in Donbas (eastern Ukraine) and to ensure the peaceful life and existence of Russia itself, the peaceful existence of our country," the Russian president said.

Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb 24 in what it called a special operation to degrade its southern neighbour's military capabilities and root out people it called dangerous nationalists.

Ukrainian forces have mounted stiff resistance and the West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in an effort to force it to withdraw its forces.