Putin cancels plan to storm last stronghold in Mariupol; Russian ramp-up likely ahead of May 9

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his military to ditch its plan to storm the Azovstal steel plant in the besieged city of Mariupol, where Ukrainian troops as well as civilians are encamped. He is opting instead to continue to hermetically seal off the facility via blockade.

“I consider the proposed storming of the industrial zone unnecessary,” Putin said in a televised meeting at the Kremlin with his defense minister, Sergei Shoigu. “I order you to cancel it.” He cited preserving the lives of Russian soldiers in his reasoning.

“There is no need to climb into these catacombs and crawl underground through these industrial facilities,” he said. “Block off this industrial area so that a fly cannot not pass through.”

Putin also urged the Ukrainian fighters left in the massive steel plant complex to lay down their arms, claiming that Russia would treat them with respect. Ukrainian troops have now ignored two Russian deadlines to surrender the southern port city, which has been the site of the most intense fighting since Russia invaded its neighbor on Feb. 24, and has been cut off from water, food, electricity, and heating for nearly two months.

— Natasha Turak

Chechen leader and staunch Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov said that Russia will capture the city of Mariupol today. The southern port city has been the center of the most intense fighting since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February. At least 10,000 Chechen troops are estimated to have been deployed to Ukraine in support of Russia.

“Before lunchtime, or after lunch, Azovstal will be completely under the control of the forces of the Russian Federation,” Kadyrov said in an audio message posted online early Thursday, Reuters reported. Azovstal is Mariupol’s sprawling steel plant complex, one of the largest in Europe, currently housing both Ukrainian forces and civilians and seen as the fighters’ last stand in the city.

Ukrainian forces in Mariupol on Wednesday issued a plea for more weapons and support from the West, warning that they were facing their final days, if not hours, in their fight to defend the city — but vowing to fight until the “last drop of blood.”

Civilian evacuations have been underway from the city for weeks, with many failed attempts at establishing humanitarian corridors, though one was agreed Wednesday. Ukrainian negotiators have said that Kyiv would be willing to negotiate releasing Russian prisoners for safe passage of civilians.

Russian control of the strategically located city would help Moscow link Ukraine’s occupied eastern territories in the Donbas with the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.

— Natasha Turak

Russia likely wants to be able to show “significant successes” ahead of its annual Victory Day celebration on May 9, the British defense ministry said in an intelligence update.

“This could affect how quickly and forcefully they attempt to conduct operations in the run-up to this date,” the U.K. ministry said.

May 9 is of great national importance to Russia, as it marks the Soviet Union’s triumph over Nazi Germany in World War II.

Russian forces are now advancing toward Kramatorsk, the capital of the Donbas region, which continues to suffer from rocket attacks, the ministry said. The Donbas is made up of the two pro-Russian self-declared “republics” of Luhansk and Donetsk.

“High levels of Russian air activity endure as Russia seeks to provide close air support to its offensive in eastern Ukraine, to suppress and destroy Ukrainian air defense capabilities,” the ministry added.

— Chelsea Ong

Ukraine wants to cut Russia off from financing its military activities with oil revenues, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

The plan is to restrict key sectors in Russia — including energy and banking, as well as export-import operations, transport, he said. “The next steps should include an oil embargo and a complete restriction on oil supplies from Russia,” he said during his nightly video address.

Ukrainian and international experts are working to ensure that “Russia will lose the opportunity to finance the military machine,” he added, saying details of the plan were published today.

“We are also working to ensure that all — I emphasize — all Russian officials who support this shameful war receive a logical sanctions response from the democratic world,” the president said.

Zelenskyy highlighted his meeting with European Council President Charles Michel, who visited Kyiv on Wednesday.

The two leaders talked about how to address threats to food and energy security in Europe and globally. “Resuming exports of Ukrainian agricultural products and blocking Russia’s ability to blackmail Europe with energy resources are top priorities for everyone on the continent,” he added.

While pointing out that the EU was preparing a sixth package of sanctions, he emphasized that sanctions are not “an end in themselves,” but a tool to motivate Russia to end the war.

Zelenskyy added that the situation in the east and south of Ukraine remains “as severe as possible” and that Russian forces are still trying for some victory through new large-scale offensives — “at least something they can ‘feed’ their propagandists with,” he said.

Russia has been waging information warfare alongside its military operations. NBC News previously reported that Russians have been “fed a steady diet of propaganda” by Russian-state media.

— Chelsea Ong