Vladimir Putin tells Ukraine fighters remaining in Mariupol's besieged Azovstal steel plant to surrender, while Moscow pledged to implement a three-day ceasefire - starting Thursday morning - to allow civilians to escape the complex.

Heavy fighting raged Thursday at the shattered steel plant in Mariupol as Russian forces sought to finish off the city’s last-ditch defenders and complete the capture of the strategically vital Ukrainian port.

Speculation suggests that Putin wants to present the Russian people with a major battlefield success, in time for Victory Day on Monday, the biggest patriotic holiday on the Russian calendar, marking the Soviet Union’s triumph over Nazi Germany.

Capt. Sviatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of Ukraine’s Azov Regiment led defenders inside the mill, told Ukrainian TV that Russian troops were inside the plant for a third day and meeting fierce resistance.

Mariupol’s fall would be a major success for Moscow, depriving Ukraine of a vital port, allowing Russia to establish a land corridor to the Crimean Peninsula. It will also free up troops to fight elsewhere in the Donbas, the eastern industrial region that the Kremlin says is now its chief objective.

Meanwhile, 10 weeks into the devastating war, Ukraine’s military claimed it recaptured some areas in the south and repelled other attacks in the east, further frustrating Putin’s ambitions after his abortive attempt to seize Kyiv.

There is renewed hope that civilians who are still trapped in the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol can be evacuated, as the UN and the Red Cross say a new convoy is expected on Friday.
-AP/BBC