Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers surrender as Russia takes control of Mariupol

Europe, News May 18, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

More than 250 Ukrainian fighters surrendered to the Russian forces in Mariupol after carrying out weeks of resistance from inside a steel mill.

The siege of Mariupol had become one of the longest and most challenging tasks for the Russian forces as a few hundred Ukrainian fighters put a strong retaliation against the incoming Russian forces. Activities of the Ukrainian fighters had been restricted to the Azovstal Steel Mill for the last two weeks until May 18 when the Ukrainian soldiers surrendered after losing hopes to find external support.

Seven buses carrying Ukrainian fighters left the steel mill on May 18, en route to the Russian-held town of Novoazovsk. Moscow said that their first priority is to treat the wounded soldiers after their surrender. The captured Ukrainian fighters are expected to be sent to the newly reopened prison in the Russian-controlled town of Olenivka near Donetsk.

The ground reports confirmed that there are some women among those captured. All the captured fighters appeared exhausted after weeks of siege and fighting. The fate of the captured fighters remains uncertain at this point, however, Kremlin said that President Putin personally assured that all the captured soldiers and fighters would be treated according to international standards. It is expected that Russia would use the captured Ukrainian fighters to exchange for Russian captives in other parts of Ukraine.

*^{Russian forces besieged Mariupol city in Ukraine. (Image Credit: Reuters)}*

The battle of Mariupol and the weeks-long standoff with the Russian forces in the besieged southern port city became one of the most iconic highlights of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Mariupol was the last resistance standing in the way of Russian forces taking control of the Azov Sea coast. After the final surrender, Russia has now an unbroken control over the Eastern and Southern stretch of Ukraine. However, Russian troops have been pushed back to the borders in the Northeast region along the City of Kharkiv.

The peace talks and negotiations between the two sides, which started with frequent meetings, seem to have stalled.

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said Ukraine “has practically withdrawn from the negotiation process.” While the Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said talks were “on hold” as Russia is not willing to accept that it will not achieve its goals.

While speaking about a possible exchange of prisoners and the surrender of Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar said, “Thanks to the defenders of Mariupol, Ukraine gained critically important time,” she said. “And they fulfilled all their tasks. But it is impossible to unblock Azovstal by military means.” She further stated that the exchange of prisoners would be worked out for their safe return home.

Some 600 fighters and civilians were believed to be fighting from inside the plant after the Russian forces took control of the Mariupol city. Some fighters have left while some wounded fighters and civilians were evacuated for treatment last week. The evacuation process began on May 6 after Russia said it had agreed to evacuate wounded Ukrainian soldiers to a medical facility in Novoazovsk.