KYIV (REUTERS) – Ukraine’s defence ministry stated late on Friday (March 18) it misplaced entry to the Sea of Azov “temporarily” as invading Russian forces have been tightening their grip across the Sea’s main port of Mariupol.
“The occupiers have partially succeeded in the Donetsk operational district, temporarily depriving Ukraine of access to the Sea of Azov,” Ukraine’s defence ministry stated in a press release.
The ministry didn’t specify in its assertion whether or not Ukraine’s forces have regained entry to the Sea.
Russia stated on Friday its forces have been “tightening the noose” round Mariupol, the place an estimated 80 per cent of town’s houses had been broken.
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Mariupol, with its strategic location on the coast of the Sea of Azov, has been a goal because the begin of the conflict on Feb 24 when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched what he referred to as a “special military operation”.
The metropolis lies on the route between the Russian-occupied peninsula of Crimea to the west, and the Donetsk area to the east, which is partially managed by pro-Russian separatists.
Russia claimed as early as March 1 that its forces had minimize off the Ukrainian army from the Sea of Azov.
