(AP) — Russian forces have pressured a stubborn pocket of resistance in Mariupol amid renewed hopes Wednesday for an evacuation of thousands of civilians from the shattered port city. A Ukrainian who said he was among hundreds holed up in a sprawling steel mill pleaded for help via video and said the officers and civilians inside the plant “may have only a few days or hours left.” Mariupol is a key battleground in Moscow’s new onslaught to take control of Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland. Russian forces have intensified their attacks along a boomerang-shaped front hundreds of miles long elsewhere in what is known as the Donbas. If successful, the offensive would carve Ukraine in two and give President Vladimir Putin a badly needed victory.

Source: The Guardian April 21, 2022 08:14 UTC