there are 2 versions of what happened in mariupol:
1) russians planted news stories about ukr soldiers taking over the hospital & kicking everyone out well in advance 'cause they wanted to bomb it so badly
2) azov did what they were confirmed to have done numerous times already
i can't reliably confirm either account of the events, i guess you'll have to trust your gut
no. 1 is *literally* what western media says happened. russians just really, really wanted to bomb a maternity ward & set up an intricate web of lies several days in advance to somehow justify this desire. this makes perfect sense
Russian forces have reportedly entered Torskoye; movement towards Liman continues.
There have been unconfirmed reports that Torskoye has been fully captured, but I think those are exaggerated.
The Ukrainians love reporting settlements as fully captured by Russians even if there are no Russians at all there or just recon teams so they can later claim that they have executed a successful counterattack
RU recon by fire and first advances on the important parts of the coming frontlines — the Battle for Donbass — have begun. The expansion of the bridgehead near Izyum continues. RU forces sally out southwest and south of Izyum. A UKR Su-25 was shot down there on the 15th.
To the east, RU forces have advanced along the left bank of the Oskol River the past week, and they have now reached the Lozovoye-Redkodub line. UKR forces continue to hold positions on the left bank of the Seversky Donets from Oskol, 10km east of Izyum.
In the Severodonetsk agglomeration, RU forces entered Kremennaya; fighting continues in Rubezhnoye & on the outskirts of Severodonetsk. In Popasnaya, there is a slow advance deep into the city & confirmation of RU control of Novoalexandrovka (southeast) & Boguslavsky (northeast).
"Russian air defense forces near ODESSA shot down a Ukrainian military transport aircraft that was delivering a large shipment of weapons supplied to Ukraine by Western countries."
"The entire city area of MARIUPOL has been completely cleared of fighters of the Nazi formation Azov, foreign mercenaries and Ukrainian troops.
The remnants of the Ukrainian group are now completely encircled on the territory of the Azovstal metallurgical plant."