More than 250 Ukrainian troops surrender as Mariupol siege appears over

By Natalia Zinets

MARIUPOL, Ukraine (Reuters) -Greater than 250 Ukrainian fighters surrendered to Russian forces on the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol and Kyiv stated on Tuesday it had ordered its full garrison to evacuate, bringing an obvious finish to the bloodiest battle in Europe for many years.

Reuters noticed buses depart the steelworks in a single day and 5 of them arrive within the Russian-held city of Novoazovsk, the place Moscow stated the wounded can be handled.

In a single, marked with the Latin letter ‘Z’ that symbolises Russia’s assault, wounded males have been stacked on stretchers three bunks excessive. One man was wheeled out, his head tightly wrapped in thick bandages.

Whereas either side spoke of a deal below which all Ukrainian troops would abandon the massive steelworks, necessary particulars weren’t but public, together with what number of fighters nonetheless remained inside, and whether or not any type of prisoner swap had been agreed.

Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar advised a briefing that Kyiv wouldn’t disclose what number of fighters have been contained in the plant till all have been protected.

The Kremlin stated President Vladimir Putin had personally assured the prisoners can be handled in line with worldwide requirements.

“The ‘Mariupol’ garrison has fulfilled its fight mission,” the Normal Workers of Ukraine’s Armed Forces stated in a press release.

“The supreme army command ordered the commanders of the items stationed at Azovstal to avoid wasting the lives of the personnel.”

In a tv deal with, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated: “Ukraine wants Ukrainian heroes alive.”

Russian defence ministry video confirmed fighters leaving the plant in daylight, some carried on stretchers, others with palms as much as be searched by Russian troops.

Russia stated at the least 256 Ukrainian fighters had “laid down their arms and surrendered”, together with 51 severely wounded. Ukraine stated 264 troopers, together with 53 wounded, had left.

RUINS

The give up seems to mark the tip of the battle of Mariupol, the place Ukraine believes tens of hundreds of individuals have been killed below months of Russian bombardment and siege.

The town now lies in ruins. Its full seize is Russia’s greatest victory of the battle, giving Moscow complete management of the coast of the Sea of Azov and an unbroken stretch of japanese and southern Ukraine.

However it comes as Russia’s marketing campaign has faltered elsewhere, with troops retreating from the outskirts of Kharkiv within the northeast on the quickest tempo since they have been pushed from the north and outskirts of Kyiv on the finish of March.

Authorities on either side gave few clues concerning the final destiny of Mariupol’s final defenders. Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk stated Kyiv aimed to rearrange a prisoner swap for the wounded as soon as their situation stabilises, however neither facet disclosed phrases for any particular deal.

Natalia, spouse of a sailor amongst these holed up within the plant, advised Reuters she hoped “there shall be an trustworthy trade”. However she was nonetheless fearful: “What Russia is doing now could be inhumane.”

VICTORY

Mariupol is the most important metropolis Russia has captured since its Feb. 24 invasion, giving Moscow a clear-cut victory for the primary time in months.

In a press release on Monday, the Azov Regiment, the principle Ukrainian unit that had held out within the steelworks, stated it had achieved its goal over 82 days of resistance by making it attainable to defend the remainder of the nation.

The regiment, now a part of Ukraine’s territorial defence forces, originated as a far-right militia, and Moscow has portrayed defeating its fighters as central to its said goal of “de-Nazifying” Ukraine. Russia blames them for mistreating Russian audio system, one in every of its battle justifications, which Kyiv and its Western backers name a bogus pretext.

Excessive-profile Russian lawmakers spoke out in opposition to any prisoner swap. Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the State Duma, Russia’s decrease home, stated: “Nazi criminals shouldn’t be exchanged.” Lawmaker Leonid Slutsky, one in every of Russia’s negotiators in talks with Ukraine, referred to as the evacuated combatants “animals in human type” and stated they need to be executed.

The United Nations and Crimson Cross say hundreds of Ukrainian civilians died below Russia’s siege of the port of 400,000 individuals, with the true toll uncounted however sure to be Europe’s worst for the reason that Nineteen Nineties wars in Chechnya and the Balkans.

For months, Mariupol’s residents have been pushed into cellars below perpetual bombardment, with no entry to meals, contemporary water or warmth, and our bodies littering the streets. Two strikes – on a maternity ward and a theatre the place tons of of individuals have been sheltering – turned worldwide emblems of Russia’s tactic of devastating inhabitants centres.

1000’s of civilians are believed to have been buried in mass graves or makeshift pits in gardens, and Ukraine says Moscow forcibly deported hundreds of residents to Russia.

Moscow denies focusing on civilians or deporting them.

UKRAINE ADVANCES

Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces have been advancing at their quickest tempo for greater than a month, driving Russian forces out of the realm round Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest metropolis.

Ukraine says its forces had reached the Russian border, 40 km north of Kharkiv. They’ve additionally pushed at the least so far as the Siverskiy Donets river 40 km to the east, the place they might threaten provide traces to Russia’s essential advance within the Donbas.

Russia remains to be urgent that advance, regardless of taking heavy losses.

Finland and Sweden have introduced plans to hitch NATO, bringing concerning the very growth of the Western alliance Putin invoked as one of many essential justifications for his “particular army operation”. U.S. President Joe Biden was attributable to host the Swedish and Finnish leaders on the White Home on Thursday.

After weeks by which Russia threatened unspecified retaliation, Putin stated on Monday Russia had “no issues” with both nation, and their NATO membership can be a problem provided that the alliance deployed further troops or weapons.

International Minister Sergei Lavrov stated on Tuesday there can be “in all probability not a lot distinction” if Finland and Sweden joined NATO, since that they had already take part in alliance drills.

(Reporting by Natalia Zinets in Kyiv and a Reuters journalist in Mariupol; Extra reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Peter Graff; Modifying by Stephen Coates, Nick Macfie and Angus MacSwan)