Putin hails ‘liberation’ of Mariupol

By AFP.

Published April 21, 2022 at 10:56 am

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks as Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko (L) and Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin listen on, during his visit to the Vostochny cosmodrome, some 180 km north of Blagoveschensk, Amur region on April 12, 2022. (Photo by Yevgeny BIYATOV / Sputnik / AFP) (Photo by YEVGENY BIYATOV/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

Photo by Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday hailed Russia’s “liberation” of Mariupol after Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told him Moscow controlled the Ukrainian port city apart from the Azovstal steel plant.

“Block off this industrial area so that not even a fly can escape,” Putin said in a televised meeting, adding it would be “impractical” to storm the huge industrial area, where more than 2,000 Ukrainian servicemen remain according to Shoigu.