Ukraine repels some Russian attacks but fighting rages at Mariupol steel mill

A Russian official earlier denied that troops were storming the plant, but the commander of the main Ukrainian unit inside said Russia’s soldiers had pushed into the mill’s territory

Vehicles on fire at the oil depot after missiles struck the facility in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Makiivka, 15 km (94 miles) east of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, Wednesday, May 4, 2022. The representative office of the Donetsk People’s Republic in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the ceasefire regime (JCCC) said on Wednesday that the city of Makiivka was shelled and, according to preliminary data, an oil depot was on fire. (AP Photo)

Ukrainian forces said they have repelled Russian attacks in the east and recaptured some territory, even as Moscow moved to obstruct the flow of western weapons to Ukraine by bombarding railway stations and other supply-line targets across the country.

Heavy fighting also raged at the Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol that represented the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in the ruined southern port city, the Ukrainian military reported.