Ukrainian troops surrender in Mariupol steel plant: Russia

New York: Russia said that 265 Ukrainian soldiers, including several dozen wounded troops, surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine’s port city of Mariupol.

“Over the past 24 hours, 265 militants laid down their arms and surrendered, including 51 heavily wounded,” the defense ministry said.

The ministry added that those in need of medical care were transferred to a hospital in the town of Novoazovsk. Asked by reporters whether the Ukrainian soldiers will be treated as war criminals or prisoners of war, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman did not give an answer.

Putin “guaranteed that they would be treated according to the relevant international laws,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

A map of the approximate situation on the ground in Ukraine as of May 16.

Ukraine’s defense ministry said that 264 Ukrainian fighters were evacuated to Russia-controlled territory, including 53 “heavily wounded” troops. Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Malyar said they would be subject to an “exchange procedure”.

Last month, Moscow claimed control of Mariupol after a weeks-long siege, but hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers remained holed up in underground tunnels beneath the huge Azovstal industrial zone, blocked by Russian troops.

Images courtesy of (Photo: Wikimedia) and (Photo courtesy: Twitter@War_Mapper)

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