Putin cancels plans to storm Mariupol steel plant

The Russian military has taken control of the embattled south-eastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said.

Shoigu made the announcement on Thursday at a meeting with Russian President, Vladimir Putin broadcast on state television.

“The remaining Ukrainian combat units have entrenched themselves on the industrial site of the Azovstal factory,’’ Shoigu said.

President Putin ordered that the steel plant not be stored.

An earlier order to that effect should be withdrawn, he said.

All prisoners were guaranteed their lives, 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,’’ Putin said.

According to 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.