Most Russian forces leave Mariupol but fighting at steel mill continues, Pentagon says

 

All but about 2,000 Russian troops that had been around Mariupol have left and headed north, the Pentagon said Thursday, as intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces continued in the battle for the besieged city's sprawling steel mill.

Russian airstrikes have bombarded Mariupol, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said Thursday, but Putin's forces have only made incremental progress in the eastern Dumbass region where most of the Russian offensive has moved.

Putin had said previously that he was going to siege the steel mill and not waste personnel on continued attacks. Looks like they're needed elsewhere. A reversal of a reversal.