Russian military leaders issued a deadline for Ukrainians still defending the besieged city of Mariupol to have them surrender by midnight (local time) one day after having issued a similar ultimatum but getting zero Ukrainians surrender, Reuters reports.
While Mariupol is largely in ruins due to consistent Russian shelling, an unknown number of Ukrainians have holed up in a Soviet-era steel plant that was built by the Soviets to be a bastion against a siege after the city fell to the Nazis in World War II.
After eight weeks, the Russians are making a renewed push in the east of Ukraine because offensive operations in the central part of the nation, specifically around the capital, Kyiv, have stagnated. To try to break the stalemate at Mariupol, the Russians have continued rockets and artillery around the city, and they’ve reportedly use massive “bunker buster” bombs on the Azovstal steel plant.