United Nations races to rescue civilians from Mariupol plant
The United Nations raced Friday to rescue more civilians from the tunnels under a besieged steel plant in Mariupol and the city at large, even as fighters holed up at the sprawling complex made their last stand to prevent Moscow鈥檚 complete takeover of the strategic port.
The fight for the last Ukrainian stronghold in a city reduced to ruins appeared increasingly desperate amid growing speculation that President Vladimir Putin wants to finish the battle for Mariupol so he can present a triumph to the Russian people in time for , the biggest patriotic holiday on the Russian calendar.
Some 2,000 Ukrainian fighters, by Russia鈥檚 most recent estimate, of tunnels and bunkers beneath the Azovstal steelworks, and they have repeatedly refused to surrender. Ukraine has said a few hundred civilians were also trapped there, and fears for their safety have increased as the battle has grown fiercer in recent days.
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