"In practical terms, the end of the siege at Azovstal does not alter the trajectory of the war very much," Robert Person, an associate professor of international relations at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, told RFE/RL.
"In controlling the rest of Mariupol, which Russia has done for several weeks now, the Kremlin already had its land bridge to Crimea. Azovstal doesn’t really tip the balance there," said Person, who does not speak for the U.S. Defense Department.
The fighters at Azovstal tied down thousands of Russian troops for weeks, giving Ukraine's military time to fight and repel Russian forces in other arenas of the war such as the areas around Kyiv, the capital, and Kharkiv, the eastern city that is the country's second-largest.
"Although [Russian President Vladimir] Putin will squeeze maximum domestic propaganda value out of capture of Mariupol, it is a Pyrrhic victory that comes at enormous cost. The protracted fight for the city has drained Russia's military of significant manpower, weapons, and equipment," Person said.
"Putin will be able to capitalize on this success until Russian forces face their next major setback, after which Azovstal will be a distant memory for most Russians," he said. "But for Ukrainians, the memory of the siege of Mariupol will serve as a rallying cry for generations to come."
as daily mail would say:
Now that Z has successfully negotiated an unconditional surrender(evacuation-LOL), we can say that the attack on Mariupol has failed, in the coming weeks we’ll see Russians fleeing en masse while falsely claiming to be relocating.
.. Enjoy your victory