Ukraine says Russian forces try to storm Mariupol steel plant
NPRUkraine says Russian forces try to storm Mariupol steel plant Enlarge this image toggle caption Emilio Morenatti/AP Emilio Morenatti/AP KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces in Ukraine tried to storm a steel plant housing soldiers and civilians in the southern city of Mariupol on Saturday while attempting to crush the last corner of resistance in a location of high symbolic and strategic value to Moscow, Ukrainian officials said. An advisor to Ukraine's presidential office, Oleksiy Arestovich, said during a Saturday briefing that Russian forces had resumed air strikes on the Azovstal plant and were trying to storm it. On Saturday, Russian forces also fired at least six cruise missiles at Odesa, said Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to Ukraine's interior minister. Russia still has not established air or sea control due to Ukrainian resistance, and despite Putin's declaration of victory in Mariupol, "heavy fighting continues to take place, frustrating Russian attempts to capture the city, thus further slowing their desired progress in the Donbas," the U.K. Ministry of Defense said.