The Kremlin denies that Russian troops are storming the Azovstal factory in Mariupol, which Ukrainian sources previously reported.
The steel mill is the last Ukrainian stronghold of resistance in the southern Ukrainian city.
“The order to call off the attack was given publicly,” a Kremlin spokesman said. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on April 21 that he ordered the siege of the steel plant and a halt to the attack.
According to the mayor of Mariupol, about 200 civilians are still trapped in the underground facilities of Azovstal. There are also reportedly several thousand Ukrainian soldiers there.
The first civilians were evacuated last weekend.