Putin cancels plans to attack Steel Factory in Mariupol.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his military to cancel plans to attack the Azovstal plant in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, saying he wants it to remain secure.
According to foreign media, the last Ukrainian fighters have taken refuge in the large steel plant in the city of Azovstal, which is said to have about 1,000 civilians.
Putin ordered the closure of the plant to Sergei Shoigu, his defense minister.
“I consider the proposed storming of the industrial zone unnecessary,” Putin told Shoigu in a televised meeting at the Kremlin.
He allegedly “congratulated him on a successful operation in Mariupol” after Shoigu claimed that Russian forces had occupied the city.
Shoigu had previously told Putin that more than 2,000 Ukrainian fighters were still at the plant, which has a large underground bunker.