MOSCOW: The Kremlin said Wednesday Russia was not storming the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, after Ukraine accused Moscow of launching a "powerful" assault on the industrial zone where Kyiv's forces are holed up.
"The order was publicly given by the supreme commander-in-chief to cancel the assault," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, referring to an order given by President
Vladimir Putin last month not to pursue an attack on the area.
"There is no storming," Peskov said.