DONETSK REGION, UKRAINE - APRIL 6, 2022: A local resident is seen in a street in the city of Mariupol. The Russian Armed Forces are carrying out a special military operation in Ukraine. Sergei Bobylev/TASS/Sipa USA
Ukraine: Situation in Ukrainian city of Mariupol
LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Unbroken by a Russian blockade and relentless bombardment, the key port of Mariupol is still holding out, a symbol of staunch Ukrainian resistance that has thwarted the Kremlin’s invasion plans. More than six weeks after the Russian siege began, Ukrainian troops are continuing to fight the vastly superior Russian forces in ferocious battles amid the ruins of what once was a bustling city on the Sea of Azov coast. The Ukrainians’ fight against all odds has scuttled Moscow’s designs, tying up significant Russian forces and delaying the start of a planned Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine’s industrial heartland, Donbas. Capturing Mariupol would allow Moscow to establish a land corridor to Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014.
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