Russia says 42 Ukrainian soldiers surrendered in Mariupol

“These Ukrainian soldiers managed to use armored fighting vehicles to escape from the Illich iron and steel plant in Mariupol and leave the city in the north during the night. However, the plan to open the blood route was blocked under the fire of air strikes. and artillery,” General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Ministry of Defense Russiasaid at a press conference in Moscow today.

Konashenkov said three Ukrainian tanks, five armored vehicles and seven cars were destroyed in the fighting, with about 50 enemy soldiers killed. The remaining 42 soldiers surrendered their guns.

The Russian military also conducted an ambush with high-precision weapons, destroying an ammunition depot and a hangar at the Starokonstantinovo airport in the Khmelnytskyi region, to the west. Ukraineand an ammunition depot in the Kiev region, according to a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry.

Konashenkov said the Russian air force hit 32 Ukrainian military targets overnight, including a Buk-M1 air defense system, a radar, a radar irradiation system of S air defense missiles. -300, 18 areas of concentration of military equipment.

Two Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were shot down by air defense systems near Berdyanks and Melitopol.

Since the start of the special military operation, 130 aircraft, 99 helicopters, 244 air defense systems, 443 drones, 2,139 tanks and many other armored fighting vehicles, 241 launchers missiles, 917 artillery and mortars, and 2,046 military vehicles were destroyed,” he said.

The Ukrainian military has not commented on this information.

In a separate statement, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said “thousands of people” died in Mariupol. Speaking online to South Korea’s parliament, Zelensky asked for weapons and military equipment and warned that Russia could launch a large-scale military operation this week.

Meanwhile, Russia said Kiev was preparing for a counterattack from April 18 to April 22.

Speaking in an online press conference after meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko today, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia will continue to conduct a military operation in Ukraine in order to accomplish the set goals and reduce minimize losses.

“We will act in a calm, rhythmic manner, according to the plan laid out by the General Staff,” Putin stressed.

When asked about the information that hundreds of bodies were discovered in the town of Bucha, a suburb of Kiev, President Putin said that this was “fake information”, similar to the accusations that the West had made about the President’s government. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons.

He also revealed that Ukraine’s “inconsistency” in the peace talks had slowed progress. “Last night, they changed something again. The lack of consistency in the key points makes certain difficulties for the process towards a final agreement,” the Russian president said.

He added that before reaching an agreement, Russia will continue to conduct military operations “until all tasks are completed”.

The United Nations estimates that at least 1,842 civilians have been killed and 2,493 wounded in Ukraine since Russia’s military operation began on February 24, but warns the actual number could be higher. About 4.6 million people have been evacuated to other countries and millions have been displaced from their homes in Ukraine.

Thanh Tam (According to AFP, Anadolu Agency)