Ukrainian forces try to hold Mariupol as combat reaches city streets

Russian forces pushed into the city of Mariupol Saturday, a strategic move for Moscow, which considers the southern port city a gateway that would open a land corridor between Russia and its annexed region of Crimea.

During three weeks of bombardment and attack, defenders said they had kept Russian forces at bay on the city outskirts, but that has changed.

“The fighting is already in the city itself,” an official from the mayor’s office said via text message. “But Mariupol remains a Ukrainian city.”

The capture of Mariupol would be a key victory for Russia, which has so far failed to take any major Ukrainian cities. It would free up its forces to encircle Ukrainian army units in eastern regions and push further toward the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.