Ukraine round-up: Putin backs off storming of Azovstal as Mariupol ‘mass graves’ found

BBC News:-

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his troops to seal off Ukrainian defenders inside the besieged port city of Mariupol.

Mr Putin told forces to abandon plans to storm the sprawling Azovstal steel works there, where Ukraine is still resisting the invaders.

The Azovstal Iron and Steel Works – a massive, four sq-mile (10 sq km) plant in the south-east of the city – has become the last centre of Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol. Civilians as well as fighters are inside the plant.

Russian forces have been trying for weeks to dislodge them.

The BBC’s Toby Luckhurst in Lviv, western Ukraine, has been reporting on Mr Putin’s apparent change of mind, and Ukrainian defiance.