and one armored personal carrier. the numbers of enemy losses are still increasing. reporter: this is an officer in the azov battalion currently fighting for his life and others inside the besieged azovstal steel plant. the plant has taken constant bombardment for days on end and he strikes a defiant tone. right now ukraine not just fighting for ourselves, we are fighting for the freedom. reporter: and yet the reality in mariupol is that russia controls the vast majority of the city, apart from the last remaining pocket of ukrainian resistance. enough that vladimir putin felt compelled to declare victory in the city he first tried and failed to capture nearly ten years ago. completing the military task of liberating mariupol is a great achievement, he says. i congratulate you. but ukraine and its allies have rejected the notion that mariupol has fallen. how could that be, the argument goes, when the russians have yet to force out the remaining