Russia assures Ukrainian army evacuated from Azovstal surrendered

Date:

Kiev hopes to reach an agreement on their exchange for Russian prisoners

A total of 265 Ukrainian military defenders of the Azovstal steel plant, the last stronghold of resistance in the port city of Mariupol, were evacuated yesterday to the city of Olenevka, in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. Among them were 51 with serious injuries, who were sent to a hospital in Novoazovsk, also under control of pro-Russian forces.

This morning, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed they had all surrendered. “In the past 24 hours, 265 fighters have laid down their weapons and surrendered, including 51 seriously injured,” the Russian military statement said. The same information was also released by the separatist authorities in Donetsk.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister, Irina Vereshuk, announced this afternoon that a “humanitarian operation to rescue Azovstal’s defenders continues”. According to various sources, more than a thousand Ukrainian fighters from the Azov battalion, a unit that Moscow considers a “Nazi” group, are said to be in the basements of the steel factory, of whom about 600 were injured.

However, the adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Mijailo Podoliak, admitted today that the negotiations on the exchange of the Ukrainian prisoners of Azovstal “prove to be very difficult, although there is hope”. President Vladimir Putin, who needs a triumph to present to his citizens and who, when he launched the current offensive in Ukraine, indicated that one of his aims is to “denazize” and “punish” the Ukrainian neo-Nazi extremists hardly go to accept the exchange of fighters of the «Azov» battalion. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov has just pointed out that the Azovstal detainees “will be treated in accordance with international standards”.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said on Monday evening that “in order to achieve his return home, an exchange procedure will be carried out. With regard to the defenders who are still in the Azovstal area, the rescue measures will be carried out with concerted efforts.” In his words: «The Mariupol defenders have fully fulfilled the tasks assigned by their commanders. Unfortunately, we have no chance to liberate Azovstal by military means.” Malyar stressed that “the most important common task for Ukraine and the whole world now is to save the lives of the defenders of Mariupol.”

Similarly, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army expressed itself in a statement: «The Mariúpol garrison completed its combat mission. The highest military command ordered the commanders of the units in Azovstal to save the lives of their troops. Thanks to them, the note continues, “we were able to have the time we needed to create reserves, regroup troops and get help from our allies. The defenders of Mariupol are the heroes of our time. They will remain in history forever.”

For his part, Ukrainian President Volodímir Zelensky said yesterday that “our military has launched the operation to rescue the defenders of Mariupol (…) the work continues and delicacy is needed” for its successful completion. “Thanks to the actions of the Ukrainian army, intelligence services, the negotiating team, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN, we hope we can save the lives of our boys,” Zelensky said.

The “humanitarian corridor” in Azovstal to evacuate Ukrainian soldiers willing to lay down their weapons was organized yesterday by the Russian defense ministry. A temporary ceasefire was declared for this. According to Moscow, the operation was agreed with the Ukrainian army. Mariupol began to be attacked from the day after the start of the Russian invasion, on February 24, and has been under siege for almost two months. The city fell on April 21, but not the Azovstal steel mill, against which Russian troops have been thoroughly deployed with artillery, missiles, aviation and, according to Kiev, even banned weapons such as phosphorus bombs.

Source: La Verdad

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