Russia claims 1,000 POWs captured in Mariupol; Ukraine says fight for city continues
DNIPRO, Ukraine — Russia asserted Wednesday that more than 1,000 Ukrainian troops in Mariupol had surrendered, dealing what would be a heavy blow to defenders’ desperate efforts to hold the strategic southern port city. But the claim could not be verified, and Ukraine said the battle continued.
As a seventh week of warfare drew to a close, Russian artillery pounded cities and towns in preparation for what is expected to be an all-out offensive in the country’s eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas. Satellite imagery has shown a growing buildup of Russian troops and heavy equipment in at
