- Russia was hoping to completely capture Mariupol but Ukrainian fighters holed up in a steel plant.
- Mariupol’s residents have endured some of the worst atrocities committed by the Russians.
After reducing Ukraine’s eastern port city of Mariupol to rubble, President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called the military campaign there a success, something he desperately needs as the war grinds into its third month.
It’s anything but.
Russia stopped short of routing hundreds of Ukrainian fighters from the strategic city’s giant steel plant. Ukraine and President Joe Biden rejected Putin’s claim of victory.
