I could not understand why it was that there were Ukrainians holding out so long at the steel factory. I had been following the daily military analysis of the fighting and there were 2 places in Mariupol that were being held. The Russians were advancing block by block in the one area.

But the other area is the Azovstal Metallurgical Combine which is an amazingly big factory. The factory also seems to have been built, to survive insane levels of attack. And it is huge. I was amazed that the Russians could fire heavy artillery daily at the factory and that the factory could even be bombed and yet the Ukrainians continued fighting there.

Newer information makes this even more amazing. There are something like 1,000 civilians and 5,000 wounded Ukrainian soldiers inside the factory! I just about fell on my back when I saw these numbers. I thought the survivors were maybe a few dozen but in reality it is THOUSANDS of people. The factory seems to be built like a freaking fort.

I’m simply astounded at how these people are holding out.

So there are 6,000 people trapped in this factory. The question was raised as to how many non-wounded Ukrainian soldiers are there? I suspect it can’t be many. But I’m amazed that there are 5,000 wounded troops there.

The Russians on the orders of Putin have stopped launching costly attacks on the steel factory complex. They’ve decided to just wait and starve out the survivors. They estimate the survivors have 2 weeks of food left.

I am astounded by the number of people in this factory. I am amazed at how insanely strong this factory is. It is like a freaking fort. The people are probably huddled further down inside it. I’m just generally amazed by the scale of this and the sheer toughness of this factory.

It will be something to see when they eventually surrender to the Russians and we get to see how many people there were.

This is an amazing story within a story. This incredible factory. The factory itself might have been built to withstand some kind of nuclear attack I think. But I’m just gobsmacked by it’s strength and how these people could survive there for weeks.

This will be one hell of a story one day, when people write a book or make a movie about it.

I could not believe it when I read that THOUSANDS of people are hiding (successfully) inside that factory. That factory is seriously tough. I’d like to know more about it’s design.