Russia accused of using bunker buster bombs in Mariupol: all you need to know

Ukranian officials say that the Russian forces have used devastating bunker buster bombs in Mariupol. With the Russian forces trying to advance, including from neighboring Kharkiv, the stepped-up assaults began on Monday and is focused on the Donbasregions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Denys Prokopenko, the commander of the Azov Regiment of the National Guard stationed in Mariupol, alleged Russian planes had began to deploy “bunker bu

ster bombs” to kill the last Ukrainian fighters and civilians sheltering in Azovstal steel plant.

The sprawling Azovstal plant contains tunnels where both fighters and civilians are sheltering. It is believed to be the last major pocket of resistance in Maripol. At least 1,000 civilians were still hiding in shelters beneath the vast Azovstal steel plant, which contain myriad buildings, blast furnaces and rail tracks.

The bunker buster bombs are designed to penetrate thick armour and kill targets underground.

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If Moscow takes Mariupol, it would free up troops for use elsewhere in the Donbas, deprive Ukraine of a vital port, and complete a land bridge between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, seized from Ukraine from 2014.