After a Russian ultimatum to troops holed up in the Azovstal steel mill to lay down their arms failed, Ukrainian forces continued to fight in the beleaguered city of Mariupol on Wednesday.
U.S. authorities are exploring a fresh military aid package for Ukraine amid the siege of Mariupol and a move in the battle to eastern Ukraine.
According to Reuters and the BBC, Ukrainian soldiers are showing no signs of surrendering, and Oleksiy Arestovych, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, declared on social media that the city is being held as battle continues.
Despite Russian military unleashing large bombs and threatening to flatten the building, remaining Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol have held onto the enormous steel complex for several days, according to the deputy commander of the men inside.
The plant, which includes a network of tunnels, encompasses 4 square miles. According to Reuters, more over 1,000 citizens and servicemen are inside, while Russian estimates put the number of Ukrainian troops at a few thousand.
Mariupol’s mayor urged the city’s surviving population to escape on Wednesday, after humanitarian corridors were provided for the first time in several days.
Capturing the city is critical to Russia’s objectives since it would establish a land corridor connecting Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula, and the steel mill complex is possibly the final significant Ukrainian stronghold.