Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops not to storm the last Ukraine fortress left in the city of Marieupol which was surrounded on Thursday but instead blocks him “so it does not even fly”.

His defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, said that all cities outside the Azovstal steel factory were vast where Ukrainian troops were managed “released” – because Russian officials refer to the Ukrainian areas they had seized. Putin praised it as “success”.

But leaving plants in the hands of Ukraine seized Russia’s ability to declare a complete victory in Mariupol, who had seen some of the most dramatic warfars and who arrested him had strategic and symbolic interests.

The scale of suffering there has made it a focal point throughout the world, and the definitive fall will seize Ukraine from a vital port, complete the ground bridge between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, and free Russian troops to move elsewhere in Donbas.

Shoigu said the plant was “blocked safely”. Putin and Shoigu’s comments seem to reflect changes in the strategy of Mariupol, where Russia previously seemed determined to take every inch of the last city. But it is not clear what it means in practical terms.

Ukraine officials did not comment on the latest comments, but previously said four buses with civilians managed to escape from the city after several failed efforts. Thousands of more cities, many of which have been reduced to the destruction of smoking in the siege of almost two months, with more than 20,000 people afraid of death.

Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk said other efforts to evacuate civilians from Mariapol will be carried out on Thursday – although it is not clear how the latest comments will affect it.

In Kyiv, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Denmark Mette Frederiksen became the latest European leaders to show support with visits to the capital.

They will meet with President Volodymyr Zelskyy, who warned in the video address overnight that Russia did not “leave their efforts to print at least a few wins by launching large -scale offensive”.

The West united to support the Ukraine people, “Frederiksen, Danish Prime Minister, said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Kremlin said that it submitted his demand to end the war, and the West was racing to supply Ukraine with heavier weapons to fight Russia’s new encouragement to seize the East Industry.