According to the BBC, the besieged steelworks where the last Ukrainian defenders in Mariupol are holed up has been mostly destroyed above ground, and civilians are trapped beneath collapsing structures.

Svyatoslav Palamar of the disputed Azov regiment, speaking from the Azovstal facility, the remaining portion of Mariupol not under Russian control, said they had repulsed waves of Russian attacks.

“I always declare that Mariupol will remain under Ukrainian authority as long as we are here,” he stated.

President Vladimir Putin had earlier called off a planned Russian attack on the steelworks, which is a tangle of tunnels and workshops, and instead ordered his soldiers to seal it off.

He said, “Block off this industrial area so a fly can’t get through.”

In weeks of severe Russian bombing and furious street warfare, much of Mariupol was destroyed. Taking the Sea of Azov port is a crucial Russian war goal that would free up additional troops for a Russian push in eastern Donbas.

According to Capt Palamar, Russian warships fired on the steel facility and dropped “bunker-busting” bombs on it.

None of his claims have been verified by the BBC. However, it aligns with testimony from a Ukrainian marine captain stationed at the steelworks earlier this week, who stated that fighters were outmanned and running out of supplies.

“All of the structures on Azovstal’s land have been virtually demolished. They drop massive bombs, including bunker-busting bombs that wreak massive devastation. Inside the bunkers, we have wounded and dead people. Some civilians are still trapped beneath the rubble “Capt Palamar stated the following.

The Azov regiment began as a far-right neo-Nazi organisation before being absorbed into Ukraine’s National Guard. Its fighters, as well as a Marine brigade, border guards, and police officers, are the city’s last defences.

Capt Palamar said simply, “enough to repel attacks,” when asked how many Ukrainian defenders remained in Mariupol

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