麻豆约拍

Ukraine's Azov Battalion is still holding out in Azovstal, a huge steelworks in Mariupol overlooking the Azov Sea, as Russian forces declare they control the rest of the city. The steelworks contains nuclear bunkers and tunnels, and is the last bastion of resistance. Sources estimate that a couple of thousand soldiers and civilians are holed up there. The commander has called it "hell on Earth".

麻豆约拍 correspondent Mark Lowen has been speaking to Olena, a relative of one of the fighters, who is desperate for news that they're still alive. She says the last message from her cousin Max was on 8th March.

"I feel terrible, honestly. I cannot imagine what will happen to him. I would never have imagined my cousin to become a true hero of Ukraine but it's a bitter sense of pride."

"Max, your family loves you a lot and we are waiting for you. You will be our hero."

Photo: Smoke rises above Azovstal steelworks, in Mariupol, Ukraine - image from drone video footage Credit: Reuters, via Mariupol City Council

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