Russian forces are trying to establish full control of the besieged city of Mariupol, the Ukrainian armed forces said, before what is expected to be an intense wave of fighting in the east of the country as Moscow strengthens its position there.
The fate of Mariupol, a port city on the Sea of Azov, which was the site of some of the war’s most intense shelling, is of both strategic and psychological importance. If Russia takes control of the city, it would be a significant sign of progress, as it is expanding from the areas it already controls in the Donbass region to the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014.
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