Peskov explained to reporters on Thursday that "there was and is an opportunity for the Ukrainian forces to lay down their weapons and get out through the opened corridors."

"The operation continues according to plan," he said, noting that Mariupol was "liberated."

Asked whether the order not to storm the steel plant represented a change of plans, he said, "This is a separate facility, where the remaining group of Ukrainian nationalists are completely surrounded."

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military not to storm the Azovstal steel plant in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. He wanted the blockade to continue safely instead, adding that it was necessary to cordon off "the area so that not a single fly could pass."

The Russian President congratulated Defense Minister Sergio Shoigu on the success of the operation in the city of Mariupol in Ukraine and said that the control of Mariupol was successful. There was no need to storm the industrial zone in Mariupol.

Putin also stressed that Russia guarantees not to be disturbed and treat Ukrainian forces leaving the Azovstal facility with respect.

For his part, the Russian Defense Minister told Putin that the situation in Mariupol was calm and allowed the return of civilians, pointing to the Russian forces' control of Mariupol completely, with the exception of the Azovstal factory, where there are still Ukrainian fighters in the factory.

He added that members of the Ukrainian armed formations in Mariupol had weapons capable of reaching Russian regions.

Shoigu stated that at the moment of the encirclement of Mariupol, the number of Ukrainian forces and foreign mercenaries was about 8,100, and added that during the liberation of the city, more than 4,000 of them were eliminated, 1,478 others surrendered, while the remaining group of more than 2,000 militants were surrounded in an area Azovstal Industrial.