Russian forces have closed an area in Mariupol, possibly ahead of another attempt to invade the Azovstal steel plant, a Ukrainian official said. “At the moment, the occupiers have closed the square of the Left Bank district again from Veselka Park. This may be due to another attempt to invade Azovstal or street fights,” said Petro Andrushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol. Veselka Park is located north of Azovstal. Andrushchenko also spoke about Russia’s efforts to take over more government functions in Mariupol. He said Russian allies in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic were trying to “nationalize” Ukrainian property, such as the port. On Thursday, DPR chief Denis Pushilin said the port was being cleared and reconstruction had begun, and “the port will be fully operational, we plan to make the first shipment in May.” Andrushchenko also said that the Russians were also starting an inventory of property in areas of Mariupol, “despite public objections.” Apartment buildings that were severely damaged during the Russian attack on Mariupol, Ukraine, on April 28. (Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters) The inventory will assess the condition of high-rise buildings in the southern port city, as well as the surviving apartments and their owners, he said. “Yesterday in Mariupol the occupiers issued the first birth certificate for the last month. For the first time in Mariupol, a Russian terrorist satellite officially stole the citizenship of our Ukrainian child,” Andrushchenko added. Andrushchenko’s comments came hours after the Ukrainian president’s office said new efforts would be made to evacuate civilians from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. Background: In recent days, Russian forces have intensified their attacks on the extensive Azovstal industrial complex as part of their efforts to take full control of Mariupol. Yuriy Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest Holding, which owns the plant, described the scene as a “humanitarian catastrophe”. “The city has been under siege for almost two months now. And the Russians do not allow us to bring food to the city or water to the city,” Rizhenkov told CNN. Built in 1933 under Soviet rule, the factory was partially demolished during the Nazi occupation in the 1940s before being rebuilt. Now it is lost again – its trunk houses Ukrainian soldiers and about 1,000 civilians in a maze of dungeons, according to Ukrainian officials. Azovstal has since become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance to Russia’s relentless military offensive in Ukraine. CNN’s Lauren Said-Moorhouse, Isa Soares, Madalena Araujo and Oleksandra Ochman contributed to this post.
