The russian army has launched an assault on the Azovstal plant. This was confirmed to Suspilne by head of the frontline police of Mariupol Mykhailo Vershynin, - BBC reports.
Earlier, Ukrainian war correspondent Andriy Tsaplienko announced the beginning of the assault.
"They are trying to break into the territory of the plant right now", - he wrote in his telegram channel, having added that before that, aviation bombed Azovstal for several hours.
"There is a large-scale fire, the smoke from which is visible in almost all areas of Mariupol", - Tsaplienko stated.
The information about the assault was confirmed to Ukrayinska Pravda by deputy commander of the Azov Battalion Sviatoslav Palamar. "We were bombed with air bombs the whole night, two civilian women were killed, and now Azovstal is being stormed", - UP quoted him as saying.
The russian Ministry of Defense, in turn, stated that the Ukrainian military at Azovstal "went to firing positions".
"Using artillery and aircraft, units of the russian army and the DNR begin to destroy these firing positions", - the rashists assert.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko told Reuters on Tuesday that about 200 civilians still remain at the plant.
As reported, two girls were killed during the night bombardment of Azovstal by the rashists.