The Battle for Azovstal: A Soldier’s Story

<p>For the past two months, a group of Ukrainian fighters has been holed up in the Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol, mounting a last stand against Russian forces in a critical part of eastern Ukraine.</p><p>On Monday, Ukraine finally surrendered the plant.</p><p>After the end of the determined resistance at Azovstal, we hear from Leonid Kuznetsov, a 25 year-old soldier who had been stationed inside.</p><p>Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/michael-schwirtz?smid=pc-thedaily">Michael Schwirtz</a>, an investigative reporter for The New York Times.</p><p>Want more from The Daily? For one big idea on the news each week from our team, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/the-daily?module=inline">subscribe to our newsletter</a>. </p><p>Background reading: </p><ul><li>Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers who fought at the steel plant in Mariupol<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/17/world/europe/ukraine-mariupol-fighters-surrender.html"> face an uncertain future</a> in Russian custody.</li></ul><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily">nytimes.com/thedaily</a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p>