Ukraine war: Burning munitions used on Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant

White, brightly burning munitions were shown cascading down on the Azovstal steel works in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol in what a British military expert said looked like either an attack with phosphorus or incendiary weapons.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said “delicate” negotiations were proceeding on rescuing Ukrainian servicemen holed up beneath the vast complex.

A Ukrainian officer among the remaining defenders said 600 fighters remained, 40 of them seriously injured. Civilians have been evacuated from the labyrinth of bunkers.

Reuters was not able to immediately identify the type of munitions being used on the Azovstal complex or when the video was taken. It was posted on Sunday on the Telegram messaging application by Alexander Khodakovsky, a commander of the pro-Russian self-proclaimed republic of Donetsk.

“If you didn’t know what it is and for what purpose – you could say that it’s even beautiful,” Khodakovsky said in a message beside the video. Khodakovsky could not be immediately reached for comment.

It was not immediately clear which forces had fired the munitions, or from where.