reporter: no matter bl whether the russians cannot or will not fight their way into the steel complex, the end result is the same. ukrainian fighters inside are not only responsible for themselves but for the hundreds of civilians they say are sheltering there. some seen here in unverified video from ukraine s government. most heartbreaking thing in this that we have limited supplies here, and we are trying to share everything with civilians. but russia claims it will use will use them as a human shield. it s it s [ bleep ] because, you know, real military doesn t do this. reporter: and even outside the steal plant in areas firmly under russian control, tens thousands of civilians that need to be evacuated cannot. only a fraction managed to leave in the last few days. some seen here, arriving in the ukrainian city of zaporizhzhia, not thousands, not hundreds, but mere dozens after ukraine says russian forces violated cease-fire agreements.
The steel plant, and essentially said no problem, just wait them out. he says there is no need to climb into these catacombs and crawl underground in industrial facilities, lock off this industrial area so a fly cannot get through. for those inside the plant, this new blockade strategy a sign of weakness of the russian military a force that has tried and failed, for weeks, to force out remaining resistance. russia, right now, is cowardly hesitateling with the assault, final assault, they call this because they know that they will fail, and they will fail. reporter: no matter whether the russians cannot, or will not, fight their way into the steel complex, the end result is the same. ukrainian fighters inside are not only responsible for themselves but for the hundreds of civilians they say are sheltering there. some seen here in unverified video from ukraine s government. heartbreaking thing is we
Have limited supplies here, and we are trying to share everything with civilians. but russia claims it will use we use them as as a human shield. it s bull [ bleep ]. it s complete bull because, you know, the real military doesn t do this. reporter: and even outside the steel plant in areas firmly under russian control, tens of thousands of civilians that need to be evacuated cannot. only a fraction managed to leave in the last few days. some seen here, arriving in the ukrainian city of zaporizhzhia. after ukraine says russian forces violated cease-fire agreements. translator: it is more like not a war but a terrorist operation by russia against mariupol and the people of the city. matt rivers, cnn, lviv, ukraine. well earlier on thursday, a convoy of vehicles arrived in the city of zaporizhzhia.
Ukrainian fighters? putin seemingly aware of this acknowledged that fighters remain in the steel planti and essentially said no problem, just wait them out. he says there is no need to climb into these catacombs, block off this industrial area so a fly cannot get through. for those inside the plant, this new blockade strategy a sign of weakness of the russian military, a force that has tried and failed for weeks to force out remaining resistance. russia right now is cowardly, hesitating with the assault, final assault of azovstal steel works because they know that they will fail, and they will fail. reporter: no matter whether the russians cannot or will not fight their way into the steel complex, the end result is the same. ukrainian fighters inside are not only responsible for themselves but the hundreds of
Civilians they say are sheltering there. some seen here in unverified video from ukraine s government. most heart-breaking thing is that we have limited supplies here and we are trying to share everything with civilians. but russia claims that we use them as a human shield. it s bull [ bleep ]. it s complete bull [ bleep ] because the real military doesn t do this. reporter: and even outside the steel plant in areas firmly under russian control, tens of thousands of civilians that need to be evacuated cannot. only a fraction managed to leave in the last few days. some seen here arriving in the ukrainian city of zaporizhzhia, dozens after russian forces violated cease-fire agreements. translator: it is more like not a war, but a terrorist operation by russia against mariupol and the people of the city. reporter: so ukrainian