Russian President Vladimir Putin has canceled plans for his military to storm the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol. The President ordered Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu to change the plan. There are more than 2,000 Ukrainian fighters holed up in Azovstal, according to Mr Shoigu.
The condition in Mariupol is worst for now. Ukraine’s deputy prime minister on Thursday said, four evacuation buses left Mariupol on Wednesday carrying citizens to safety. The citizens has been slipt in the occupied city of Berdyansk and are now en route to Zaporizhzhia, Iryna Vereshchuk. However more evacuations are expected today.
Meanwhile, Russia on 24th February launched the war on Ukraine. And, according to the latest updates, Volodymyr Zelensky has said the situation in Mariupol is deteriorating with roughly 1,000 civilians remaining trapped in the Azovstal steel plant with the remaining fighters who are heavily outnumbered. However, Ramzan Kadyrov, an ally of Vladimir Putin, said he believed Russian forces would be in complete control of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol “before lunchtime, or after lunch” on Thursday. Also, Ukraine is working to convince western allies to shift Russia’s shipments of natural gas from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Ukraine’s pipeline, increasing Kyiv’s leverage, energy officials told Reuters. And US President Joe Biden is set to announce plans on Thursday to send additional military aid to help Ukraine fight back against the Russian invasion, according to a US official.