As Russians attempt to control the city of Mariupol, the Ukrainian military has held off desperate attacks by the invaders to eliminate the last major outpost of significant resistance in the city, the Associated Press reports.
Military and political analysts believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is pushing his military leaders to have a major victory prior to the Russian patriotic holiday, Victory Day, celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany on Monday. Putin reportedly wants to announce a major victory or a major escalation in the invasion, which has not gone as the Kremlin has planned due to still Ukrainian resistance with significant assistance from Western nations.
Ukrainian authorities say an electrician employed at the plant showed Russians a series of tunnels that allowed them to access the grounds of the steel plant, which the Russians have been attacking over the last three days.
“He showed them the underground tunnels which are leading to the factory,” Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine’s Internal Affairs Ministry, said in a video posted late Wednesday. “Yesterday, the Russians started storming these tunnels, using the information they received from the betrayer.”