Russian forces renewed missile strikes on Kyiv and intensified shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, in an apparent strategy to hobble Ukraine’s defenses in preparation for what is expected to be a full-scale Russian assault in the east.
KYIV, Ukraine — The shattered port city of Mariupol appeared on the brink of falling to the Russians on Sunday after , in what would give Moscow a crucial success following its failure to storm the Ukrainian capital and the sinking of its Black Sea flagship.
The capture of Mariupol would free up Russian forces to join an expected all-out offensive in the coming days for control of the Donbas, the industrial region in the country’s east where the Kremlin has focused its war aims after abandoning, for now at least, any attempt to take Kyiv, the capital. He said intercepted communications indicated there were about 400 foreign mercenaries along with the Ukrainian troops at the Azovstal steel mill, a claim that could not be independently verified.
After the humiliating loss of the flagship of its Black Sea Fleet last week to what the Ukrainians boasted was a missile attack, Russia’s military vowed Friday to step up strikes on the capital. The Kremlin said Sunday that it had attacked an ammunition plant near Kyiv overnight with precision-guided missiles, the third such strike in as many days.
Malyar, the deputy defense minister, said the Russians continued to hit Mariupol with airstrikes and could be getting ready for an amphibious landing to beef up their ground forces. Tunnels at the sprawling Azovstal steel mill, which covers an area of more than 11 square kilometers , have allowed the defenders to hide and resist.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the fall of Mariupol could scuttle any attempt at a negotiated peace.
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