[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] On the 21st (local time), the Russian military declared that it had captured Mariupol, a strategic port city in southern Ukraine.
According to major foreign media including the AP News Agency, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin that "the rest of Mariupol, except for the Azovstal steel plant, has been liberated."
President Putin then said, "The Mariupol liberation operation has been successfully completed," and instead of attacking Azovstal, the last stronghold of the Ukrainian forces, he ordered to "block it so that not even a single fly can pass through."
He claimed that the cancellation of the attack on Azovstal was to protect the lives of Russian soldiers. It is known that about 2,000 Ukrainian troops, including the paramilitary Azov Regiment, and civilians are inside Azovstal. He emphasized that the lives of Ukrainian soldiers who come out of Azovstal voluntarily will be guaranteed and they will be treated lawfully.
Oleksiy Arestovych, an advisor to the Ukrainian presidential office, rebutted that Russia admitted it could not capture Azovstal by force.
At a press briefing that day, Advisor Arestovych said, "They (the Russian military) realized that they physically cannot capture Azovstal and suffered heavy losses there," adding, "Our defense forces continue to hold."
He added, "To achieve their main goal of advancing into the Donbas region, Russia has moved some troops northward (from Mariupol)."
Vadym Boychenko, mayor of Mariupol, said on the 20th, "About 100,000 civilians still remain in Mariupol," and "At least thousands have died since the Russian invasion."
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