Vladimir Putin’s top defence
official has asked Ukrainian fighters trapped in a chemical plant in
Sievierodonetsk to “stop their senseless resistance and lay down arms” as Russia tries
to secure the key city.
Russia says it will allow
civilians to leave via a humanitarian corridor, Mikhail Mizintsev, head of
Russia’s National Defence Management Centre, told the Interfax news agency, as
the final stages of the battle for Sievierodonetsk appeared to follow a similar
path to the fighting in the port city Mariupol last month.
It comes as a Pentagon official
said Mr Putin still likely has designs to capture all of Ukraine for
Russia, though he has had to narrow his objectives in the current war.
Moscow has now focused its
might on the eastern region of Donbas, where it has occupied large swathes
of land.
Facing fierce resistance from
the time Russia launched its invasion in late February, Moscow had to abandon
offensives on several Ukrainian cities around one month into the conflict after
failing to make significant progress.
