Nearly 700 more Ukrainian fighters surrendered at the Mariupol steelworks in the past 24 hours, Russia said on Wednesday, but leaders were reported to still be holed up inside, delaying the final end of Europe’s longest and bloodiest battle for decades.
Russia’s ministry of defense said the surrender of 694 more fighters meant a total of 959 people had now lain down their arms at the vast Azovstal steelworks — the last bastion of Ukrainian defenders in the city.
If confirmed, the Russian announcement would resolve much of the mystery surrounding the fate of hundreds of fighters inside the plant, since Ukraine announced on Tuesday it had ordered the entire garrison to stand down. The Ukrainian defense ministry, which has so far confirmed only about 250 have left the plant, did not immediately respond to a written request for comment.
The leader of pro-Russian separatists in control of the area was quoted by a local news agency as saying the main commanders inside the plant had yet to surrender: “They have not left,” DAN news agency quoted Denis Pushilin as saying.
The final surrender of Mariupol would bring a close to a nearly three-month siege of the once prosperous city of 400,000 people, where Ukraine says tens of thousands of civilians died under Russian siege and bombardment, many buried in mass graves.
Kyiv and Moscow had both said on Tuesday that around 250 people left the plant, giving little clue as to the fate of hundreds more believed to be inside. Ukraine said it would not reveal how many were there until the operation to rescue all of them was complete.
Russia’s ministry of defense said the surrender of 694 more fighters meant a total of 959 people had now lain down their arms at the vast Azovstal steelworks — the last bastion of Ukrainian defenders in the city.
If confirmed, the Russian announcement would resolve much of the mystery surrounding the fate of hundreds of fighters inside the plant, since Ukraine announced on Tuesday it had ordered the entire garrison to stand down. The Ukrainian defense ministry, which has so far confirmed only about 250 have left the plant, did not immediately respond to a written request for comment.
The leader of pro-Russian separatists in control of the area was quoted by a local news agency as saying the main commanders inside the plant had yet to surrender: “They have not left,” DAN news agency quoted Denis Pushilin as saying.
The final surrender of Mariupol would bring a close to a nearly three-month siege of the once prosperous city of 400,000 people, where Ukraine says tens of thousands of civilians died under Russian siege and bombardment, many buried in mass graves.
Kyiv and Moscow had both said on Tuesday that around 250 people left the plant, giving little clue as to the fate of hundreds more believed to be inside. Ukraine said it would not reveal how many were there until the operation to rescue all of them was complete.
