During a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, president of the aggressor country putin "considered it inappropriate" to storm the industrial zone of the Mariupol Azovstal iron and steel works. This is reported by the russian media.
It is reported that at the same time, putin ordered to "securely block" the Ukrainian military defending there on the territory of the plant.
"I consider the proposed storming of the industrial zone inappropriate. I order to cancel it. This is the case when we must think, that is, we must always think, and in this case even more so, about preserving the life and health of our soldiers and officers. There is no need to climb into these catacombs and crawl underground through these industrial facilities. Block off the industrial zone completely, so that nobody can pass through", - putin said.
Before that, Shoigu reported that Mariupol was allegedly "liberated and is under the control of the forces of russia and the "DNR", with the exception of the Azovstal industrial zone, where more than two thousand civilians and military are now blocked.
"As for those who hided at the Azovstal plant and are blocked there thoroughly and around the entire perimeter. We need about 3-4 days to complete this work on Azovstal", - Shoigu stated.