As the war nears its third month, Azovstal has become emblematic of the fierce Ukrainian resistance that has repelled the Russian invasion far more effectively than most initially expected, and forced President Vladimir Putin to recalibrate his military aims from taking the capital Kyiv to focussing on the east of the country
Kyiv, Ukraine: Ukraine was seeking to evacuate the last soldiers holed up at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol on Wednesday, its president said, as the first war crimes trial of a Russian soldier since the invasion began was set to get under way in Kyiv.
On the international stage, Finland and Sweden were expected to formally submit a joint application to join the NATO military alliance, a historic reversal of their traditional policy of non-alignment.
As the war nears its third month, Azovstal has become emblematic of the fierce Ukrainian resistance that has repelled the Russian invasion far more effectively than most initially expected, and forced President Vladimir Putin to recalibrate his military aims from taking the capital Kyiv to focussing on the east of the country.
A unit of soldiers had been holding out in the Mariupol plant's underground maze of tunnels, stalling Russia's progress through surrounding territory, but on Tuesday Moscow said more than 260 had now surrendered.