The Russian military has taken control of the embattled south-eastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, says Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Mr Shoigu announced this on Thursday at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin broadcast on state television.
“The remaining Ukrainian combat units have entrenched themselves on the industrial site of the Azovstal factory,’’ Mr Shoigu said.
Mr Putin ordered that the steel plant not be stormed.
An earlier order to that effect should be withdrawn, he said.
All prisoners were guaranteed their lives, Mr Putin said.
He spoke of the success and the liberation of Mariupol and ordered the military officers involved to be decorated.
“They are all heroes,’’ Mr Putin declared.
According to Mr Shoigu’s account, the Ukrainian units are completely blockaded.
The minister assured that the factory should also be taken in three to four days.
No one has left the factory via the humanitarian corridors offered, the minister said.
Earlier, the Ukrainian side had proposed negotiations on the fate of the fighters and the rescue of civilians who had sought refuge in the factory.
