Rescuers lose hope of finding survivors among the ruins of the Kremlin. bombed mall
Ukraine has repatriated 144 soldiers in the largest prisoner exchange with Russia since the start of the war. Among them are 95 defenders of the Azovstal steel mill, which partially allays uncertainty about the fate of these fighters, who have not been heard from since their surrender to the invading forces at the end of May.
“This is the largest fair since the beginning of the Russian invasion. Of the 144 that have been released, 95 are defenders of Azovstal,” the Defense Ministry confirmed on Telegram, which avoided providing more information about the date or characteristics of the operation. It seems confirmed that the exchanges have intensified this month as a result. of the negotiations between Kiev and Moscow, more favorable in this respect than starting new peace talks.Last Tuesday, the armies of each country exchanged 17 soldiers.A week earlier, they also agreed to collect the bodies of soldiers who had died at the front repatriate, allowing Ukraine to recover 64 bodies of fighters who fell at the Mariupol steel plant.
According to the intelligence services, “most” of the last detainees transferred are “severely injured” by “bullets or shrapnel”, or suffer “burns and fractures”. Among them are ninety officers, non-commissioned officers and sergeants and the majority are members of the National Guard, who played a prominent role in the Mariupol resistance. 43 militiamen of the Azov battalion were also transferred, despite Moscow’s willingness to classify all elements of this regiment as “Nazis”. Even Parliament was in favor of reducing the death penalty for them.
The head of Ukrainian intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, responsible for the rescue of the Azovstal defenders, warned on the 22nd that he hoped that “a significant number” of Ukrainian detainees would return home “in the near future”. All were interned in a colony in the Donetsk province under the control of the pro-Russian separatists, where a total of 2,449 soldiers were transferred, who laid down their arms during the long siege of Azovstal as the only way to save their country. lives. The commanders of the Azov battalion are not in that colony, but have been taken prisoner to Moscow. Another fate is that of two British militiamen and another Moroccan imprisoned in the steel mill, accused of being mercenaries and sentenced to death by a pro-Russian court.
On the other hand, Kiev authorities have given up hope of finding survivors in the rubble of Monday’s bombed shopping center in Kremenchuk, a town in the Poltava region, southeast of the Ukrainian capital. Interior Minister Denís Monastirski said 20 deaths and 59 injuries have been recorded so far, while more than 40 missing persons reports are still pending, suggesting that the ultimate death toll would be higher.
However, Interior Ministry sources, quoted by the “Kyev Independent” media, yesterday confirmed “they have no hope” of finding survivors, despite the work of the nearly 4,500 members of the rescue teams who participate in the duties of the clearing debris and looking for victims. Rescuers believe some bodies may have even disintegrated as a result of the rocket explosion or the high temperatures reached by the ensuing fire.
Aside from Kremenchuk, the invading army continues its systematic bombing campaign in the southeast, killing five in Mikolaiv and Dnipro between yesterday and Tuesday. The Ukrainian General Staff acknowledged the near loss of the Lugansk province in Donbas as a result of the artillery siege. Meanwhile, Russian security forces in Kherson arrested the mayor, Ihor Kolykhayev, who was accused of rejecting the orders of the invaders who occupied this important enclave in the Black Sea region in the early weeks of the war. He is the third president of a major city held by Moscow.
Source: La Verdad
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