The commander of the Ukrainian battalion Azov said in a video released today that the civilians and the seriously injured have been removed from the steel plant in Mariupol Azovstal, without giving further details about the fate of the other fighters.
“We are constantly emphasizing the three most important conditions for us, which are civilians, the wounded and the dead,” said Lt. Col. Denis Prokopenko, the battalion commander, in a video posted on the Telegram messaging app.
“The civilians have been evacuated. The seriously injured have received the necessary assistance and have been evacuated, to be exchanged later and sent to territory under Ukrainian control,” Prokopenko said.
Ukraine on Monday ordered Mariupol defenders to surrender without giving further details on what has been described as an attempt to rescue fighters from Azofstal, the last stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in the devastated port.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said nearly 2,000 Ukrainian troops had been handed over to Azovstal so far. Ukrainian officials have not confirmed the number and Reuters is unable to verify it.
Britain announced on Friday that some 1,700 fighters had surrendered and an unknown number remained inside the steel plant.
The complete surrender of the bombed-out factory shelters and tunnels could end the most devastating siege of the war that began when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Prokopenko said the process of transporting the dead from Azofstal was still ongoing.
“I hope that very soon, relatives and Ukraine will be able to bury their dead soldiers with honors,” he said.
Russia needs Mariupol, one of the most important seaports, to strengthen its control of the territories it has occupied along the coast, reaching as far as the western side of annexed Crimea.
The city has now been transformed into a deserted urban landscape, devastated by artillery fire and street fighting.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the last fighters in Mariupol – soldiers of the regular army and members of the National Guard to which the Azov Order belongs – are national heroes and he hopes to exchange them with Russian prisoners.
Moscow calls the Azov Order “Nazi.” The unit, which was set up in 2014 as a paramilitary group to fight Russian-backed separatists, denies its members are fascist and Ukraine says it has since reformed its nationalist roots.
The Kremlin has announced that Azovstal’s fighters will be dealt with in accordance with international rules. Some Russian lawmakers have called for them to be tried as war criminals, and one has said they should be sentenced to death.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has said it has access to record hundreds of fighters in Azovstal, but could not determine how many.
Source: AMPE
Source: Capital
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