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Russia has decided to 'blockade' the Azoustal Works in Mariupol, where the Ukrainian army is fighting to the end, instead of occupying it.

The US has announced that it will provide 1 trillion won worth of arms to Ukraine.



Correspondent Ahn Sang-woo.



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Azoustal Works at Mariupol, a city in southern Ukraine.



Even after more than 50 days of bombing by Russian forces, 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers remain in the steelworks, which is four times the size of Yeouido.



Russian forces decided to blockade this steelworks instead of attacking it yesterday local time.



He also announced that the rest of Mariupol, except for this steel mill, had been liberated by the Russian army.



[Vladimir Putin/Russian President: There is no need to occupy an ironworks made like an underground fortress.

All you have to do is block it so that not even a single fly can come out of this steel mill.] 



In response, Ukraine acknowledged that Russia could not occupy the Azoustal steel mill on its own.



[Olexi Arestovic / Ukrainian presidential aide: It means that Russia has admitted to itself that it cannot occupy the steelworks by force.

The Russian army suffered a lot of damage there.]



Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden announced a 1 trillion won military aid plan to Ukraine to counter Russian forces in the eastern Donbas region.



[Joe Biden/President of the United States: This military assistance plan also included heavy weapons, dozens of howitzers, and 144,000 rounds of ammunition.]



In addition, as a measure of additional sanctions against Russia, a ban on Russian-linked vessels from entering US ports also fell