On Friday, Ukrainian fighters clung to their final redoubt in Mariupol after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory in the war's decisive battle, pronouncing the port city "liberated" after weeks of continuous bombing.

However, the US contradicted Putin's claim on Thursday, saying it believed Ukrainian forces retained control of the city. Putin directed his forces to blockade a massive steel plant where Ukrainians defied an initial ultimatum to submit or perish.

Ukraine claimed Putin sought to avert a final confrontation with its forces in Mariupol, claiming he lacked the troops necessary to defeat them. However, Ukrainian officials have also requested assistance evacuating civilians and wounded service members.

Putin thanked his defense minister and Russian forces during a televised meeting at the Kremlin on the "combat effort to liberate Mariupol" and said it was unnecessary to storm the industrial zone, including the Azovstal steel complex.

"There is no reason to enter these dungeons and crawl around these industrial buildings underneath... Restrict access to this industrial sector to the point where not even a fly can pass, "According to Putin.

Mariupol, a key port in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region, is sandwiched between territory controlled by Russian separatists and Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014. By capturing the city, Russia would be able to connect the two areas.

Putin's first major success since his soldiers were forced out of Kyiv and northern Ukraine last month falls short of the apparent victory Moscow wanted following months of combat in a city reduced to ruins.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky stated in a late-night address that Russia was doing all possible "to talk about at least some victories," including mobilizing new battalion tactical groups.

"They can only postpone the inevitable - the time when the invaders will have to leave our territory, including from Mariupol, a city that continues to resist Russia regardless of what the occupiers say," Zelensky said.

Catastrophic Humanitarian Event

Russia describes its invasion of Ukraine as a "special military operation" aimed at demilitarizing and "denazify" the country. Kyiv and its Western supporters reject this as a pretext for a war that has claimed thousands of lives and displaced a fourth of Ukraine's population.

This week, Moscow intensified its attacks in eastern Ukraine and launched long-range strikes against other targets, including Kyiv and the western city of Lviv, where missiles killed seven people on Monday.

On Thursday, Washington sanctioned an additional $800 million in military assistance to Ukraine, including heavy artillery and the recently discovered "Ghost" drones destroyed after they strike their targets.

"We're in a critical window now of time where they're going to set the stage for the next phase of this war," US Vice President Joe Biden warned.

When asked about Putin's victory proclamation in Mariupol, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price stated it was "yet more disinformation from their well-worn playbook."

Mariupol, which was previously home to 400,000 people, has witnessed the most fierce war battle, which began on Feb. 24, and its biggest humanitarian disaster.

Ukraine says that in Mariupol, tens of thousands of civilians have been killed. According to the UN and Red Cross, the civilian death toll is at least in the thousands.

During the siege, journalists who arrived in Mariupol discovered streets littered with corpses, practically all buildings destroyed, and residents huddled in cellars to cook scraps on makeshift stoves or bury remains in gardens.

Ukrainian fighters occupy the Azovstal steel complex, one of Europe's largest metallurgical complexes, comprising 11 square kilometers with massive structures, underground bunkers, and tunnels.

Vadym Boichenko, Mariupol's mayor, told Reuters that Putin alone could decide the fate of the city's 100,000 people.

"It is critical to remember that the lives that remain are in the hands of a single individual - Vladimir Putin. And all subsequent killings will be attributable to him as well "In an interview, Boichenko stated.

Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister, said 1,000 civilians and 500 wounded soldiers needed to be evacuated from the facility urgently, accusing Russian forces of failing to construct a safe corridor.

According to Moscow, Russia has absorbed 140,000 civilians from Mariupol through humanitarian evacuations. According to Kyiv, some were deported forcibly, which would constitute a war crime.