
TOKYO -- The Ukrainian fighters being evacuated from a steel plant in Mariupol fulfilled their combat mission successfully, Mayor Vadym Boychenko told Nikkei in a virtual interview Wednesday as one of Europe's bloodiest battles since World War II comes to a close.
"The Mariupol fighters ... saved not only Mariupol city but Ukraine itself," Boychenko said, adding that the soldiers defended the city for 80 days.