Putin cancels plan to storm last Ukraine holdout in Mariupol

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his forces not to storm the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in the besieged port city of Mariupol on Thursday — the sprawling Azovstal steel plant — instead telling his troops to block it "so that not even a fly can escape."

Putin said storming the facility, with its network of underground tunnels, would be "impractical." Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians have been sheltering there.

His defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, said the rest of the city beyond the plant has been "liberated" - a term Russian officials use to refer to areas of Ukraine they have seized. Putin hailed that as a "success."