Putin changes tack in Mariupol

The president ordered Russian forces to block the Azovstal metal works “so tightly that not even a fly can get through”

Vladimir Putin called off the assault on the Azovstal steel works, saying the move was “unnecessary.” “This is a case where we need to think — of course, we almost need to think about this, but in the current situation even more — about saving the lives and the health of our soldiers and officers. There’s no need to climb into those catacombs and crawl under the earth through those industrial facilities,” said President Putin at a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Instead of taking the plant by force, Putin ordered the armed forces to block “this industrial zone so tightly that not even a fly can get through.” Shoigu had previously told him that the Azovstal plant was already blocked and that it was sheltering “the remnants of nationalist formations” — more than 2,000 troops. In addition, Shoigu said, there might be civilians in the facility. Humanitarian corridors have been opened multiple times in the last two days, but nobody has exited the plant, according to Shoigu.

Putin called the assault off about 10 hours after Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov announced that the plant would be conquered that same day. Kadyrov, who had already claimed dozens of times that Mariupol would soon be under complete Russian control, made a post early in the morning on April 21: “Tomorrow, or today, rather, Azovstal will come under the complete control of the Russian armed forces, either before or after lunchtime." Meanwhile, when Shoigu laid out the plan to storm Azovstal to Putin, he said it would take three to four days.

Azovstal, one of the largest metallurgical facilities in Europe, is owned by Metinvest, an asset of Ukrainian business mogul Rinat Akhmetov, as is the nearby Illich metallurgical plant. Azovstal was built on the shore of the Azov Sea in the early 1930s and spans about 11 square kilometers (about four square miles). It ‘s equipped with an underground bomb shelter, where the Ukrainians hiding in the facility. are currently located.

After Russian forces surrounded Mariupol, Azovstal became one of the main points of resistance for Ukrainian soldiers defending their city. Another was the Illich plant, but a week ago, a portion of the soldiers who had been stationed in the facility tried to escape Mariupol. Some of them managed to join up with the troops at Azovstal, while others, in an attempt to join Ukrainian forces in another direction, came under Russian fire and were taken hostage. The troops currently controlling the Azovstal plant include the Ukrainian Navy’s 36th Separate Marine Brigade and the Azov Battalion. According to the soldiers themselves as well as the Ukrainian authorities, about 500 of the soldiers in the facility are injured, and there are also about 1,000 civilians there with them (most of whom are the relatives of soldiers, including women and small children).

Since mid-April, the troops at Azovstal have made multiple public statements about the urgency of their situation. They’ve reported a shortage of weapons and medical supplies and a lack of communication with the outside world (though the Ukrainian authorities claim to have kept up frequent communication with them), and have called for help taking back the city. Several days ago, after the leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) announced the assault on Azovstal (the Mariupol city authorities reported that Russian-backed forces had begun conducting airstrikes on the plant, and Azov leaders said it had been almost completely destroyed), 36th Separate Marine Brigade Commander Sergiy Volyna released a statement to American and British leaders, as well as the Pope, asking for help evacuating the city.

Russia's military leadership has made multiple calls (three since the start of November) for the Ukrainian troops sheltering in Azovstal to surrender. Azov Deputy Commander Svyatoslav Palamar said that the civilians hiding in the facility don’t want to leave for fear of Russian shelling (according to Palamar, Russian soldiers cannot be trusted to observe ceasefires agreements, which are essential for civilians to evacuate safely), and the soldiers in the facility want to leave the city but don’t want to surrender and be taken prisoner. The Russian Defense Ministry provided a different explanation for the standoff’s protraction: they claim that Ukrainian troops want to surrender, but Kyiv won’t allow them to, and that the civilians in the plant are being kept there to serve as “human shields.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the “destruction” of the remaining Ukrainian troops in Mariupol would “put an end to all negotiations.” On April 16, Zelensky announced that the situation in Mariupol was “very difficult,” and that there were only two ways the people trapped in the city could be saved: either Ukraine would have to defeat the Russian occupiers in the city, which would require heavy weapon supplies from Western countries, or the two countries would have to reach an agreement (though Russia has been unwilling to negotiate about evacuation routes, according to Zelensky). “Mariupol may well be the equivalent of 10 Borodyankas, and the destruction of our troops, of our guys, would put an end to all negotiations,” he warned.

According to Shoigu, the Russian army is currently in complete control of Mariupol, with the exception of the Azovstal plant. “The situation in the city is calm; it will allow us to start restoring order, returning the population, and establishing peaceful life,” Shoigu said in a Putin with Putin. However, Mariupol has been almost completely destroyed. According to the Ukrainian authorities, about 20,000 people died in the city, three quarters of the population fled, and 95 percent of the buildings are ruined. “Russia will certainly restore everything,” United Russia General Council Secretary Andrey Turchak promised in late March on a visit to Ukrainians who had been forcibly transferred from Mariupol to Russia-controlled territory. “Nobody should have any doubt — Russia is here for good,” said Turchak.