Runway. while all civilians have been evacuated from that steel plant in mariupol, many more remain in the war-torn city. the head of the donetsk region said yesterday there are still people in the besieged seaside port and quote all of them are in fact hostages of russia. he also called mariupol the most painful point of the region of the last of the women and children who were stranded alongside ukrainian fighters inside that factory, well, they were evacuated over the week, and thankfully taken to safety. it s unclear how many civilians remain in the city which has witnessed some of worst devastation. joining us live from lviv ukraine is nbc s jay gray. thanks for joining us. good morning. let s start with odesa, the city that has been spared a lot of russian attacks for much of the war has come under intense bombardment recently. what s the reason? what s the thinking here behind russia s renewed assault there?
Civilians have been evacuated from the steel plant, many more remain in the war-torn city. the head of the donetsk region yesterday said there are people in the besieged seaside port. adding, quote, all of them are, in fact, hostages of russia. he also called mariupol the most painful point of the region. the last of the women and children who were stranded alongside ukrainian fighters inside the factory were evacuated over the weekend and taken to safety. it s unclear how many more civilians remain in the city which has witnessed some of the worst devastation of the entire war. but amid those continued attacks, russia s troops continue to struggle in ukraine, particularly the air force. according to a senior defense official, russian war planes have failed to establish air superiority over ukraine, which continues to fly its own fighter jets. a pentagon assessment also
Starting today, allowing civilians to enter the factory, if russians keep their word. intense fighting raged on at the battered plant as ukrainian fighters alleged russian forces tried to storm it for a second day. in a new video, ukrainian commander said there are, quote, bloody battles unfolding with russian troops inside the sprawling complex. kremlin denied its forces have stormed the mill, which is the last pocket of ukrainian resistance in the seaside port. new evidence suggests the bombing on the theater elsewhere in mariupol back in march was far deadlier than first estimated. an investigation by the associated press reveals that nearly 600 people died in the attack. about double what the ukrainian government initially thought. the ap says its investigation team recreated what happened inside the theater on that day using the eyewitness accounts of 23 survivors, rescuers, and people intimately familiar with
Grave site was about 200 feet long at the beginning, and grew to over 650 feet by this past sunday. in a radio interview, the city s mayor says the new images align with information the ukrainian government has that russian forces have been using mass graves to bury civilians killed in the seaside port and at times had residents dig the graves in exchange for food. meanwhile, thousands of ukrainian fighters and civilians remain trapped in a steel plant within that city. a ukrainian fighter holed up inside the factory yesterday, described the desperate situation they re facing. speaking to the new york times, he said the russians are quote trying to wipe us off the face of the earth. he appealed to the world to rescue the civilians and fighters still stuck inside that month. joining us now, live, from southeastern ukraine, nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley. matt, good morning. thanks for being with us today.
Past sunday. in a radio interview, the city s mayor say the images align with information the ukrainian government has, that russian forces have been using mass graves to bury civilians killed in the seaside port. at times, having the city s residents dig the graves in exchange for food. meanwhile, thousands of ukrainian fighters and civilians remain trapped in a steel plant in the city. ukrainian fighter holed up inside the factory yesterday described the desperate situation they re facing. speaking to the new york times, he said, the russians are, quote, trying to wipe us off the face of the earth. he appealed to the world to rescue the civilians and fighters stuck inside that plant. ambassador taylor, let me begin with you, just about what we re seeing in mariupol again. mass grave sites. we believe that s what we re looking at there. then the anecdote from the mayor there, that civilians are being made to dig the trenches, dig these mass graves in which their