Mariupol liberated, says Vladimir Putin, Ukraine extends martial law

Ukraine extends martial law until May 25. The Ukrainian parliament voted on April 21 to extend martial law for another 30 days, from April 25. Ukraine imposed nationwide martial law after Russia began its full-scale offensive on Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday declared that Ukraine's Mariupol has been 'successfully liberated'. However, Putin has asked his troops not to storm the Azovstal steel plant, the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in the city, but to block it so no one can escape. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told him Moscow controlled the Ukrainian port city apart from the giant Azovstal steel plant. Without the steel plant, Russia cannot declare complete victory in Mariupol. The city's capture has both strategic and symbolic importance. The besieged city has been the site of great suffering since the war began in February.

Earlier in February, Russia had acknowledged the "independence" of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine. Soon after that, Putin's forces invaded Ukraine on February 24. The coal- and steel-producing Donbas has been the focal point of Russia's campaign to destabilise Ukraine since 2014, when the Kremlin used proxies to set up separatist "people's republics" in Luhansk and Donetsk.Thousands of civilians are believed to have died in the city, which was besieged by Russian troops for over a month, with little access to food, water and with no electricity. Mayor of Mariupol Vadym Boichenko said around 200 people were waiting to evacuate from the beseiged city on Thursday but no buses had arrived as of mid-afternoon. He said a small convoy of buses had evacuated people from Mariupol on Wednesday and was now headed for the city of Zaporhizhia which is under Ukrainian control, reported news agency Reuters.