Russia says more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol surrendered
Department of Defense Russia On April 13, 1,026 soldiers from the 36th Ukrainian Marine Brigade, including 162 officers, surrendered in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.
“In the city of Mariupol, near the Ilyich ironworks, due to successful attacks by the Russian armed forces and militia units of the Donetsk People’s Republic, 1,026 soldiers Ukraine of the 36th Marine Brigade voluntarily laid down their arms and surrendered,” the ministry said in a statement.
Mariupol, which has been besieged by Russian troops for weeks, has seen the heaviest fighting since Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine on February 24.
Russian television broadcast clips showing unarmed men in military uniforms raising their arms along a tree-lined path toward masked soldiers carrying assault rifles.
In one clip, four Marines leave a damaged industrial building, carrying an injured person on a stretcher. One in four carries a white flag. The injured men were loaded onto a yellow bus.
One Russian soldier, who asked not to be named, said: “You can be scared or not, but you have to surrender anyway. There are not many options. First, the encirclement is tight enough. Second, there are at least five wings. army, so it is difficult to get out”.
The port of Mariupol in the Sea of Azov is the biggest target in the region Donbass which Moscow now considers the focus of the campaign. If captured, it would be the first major city to fall since hostilities began. The capture of Mariupol helped secure a land passage between the separatist-held eastern regions and Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said Kiev had no information about the surrender and there was no immediate comment from the office of the president of Ukraine or the general staff of Ukraine.
Earlier, on April 11, a post on the Facebook page of the Ukrainian Marine Brigade said that the unit was preparing for the final battle in Mariupol, which would end in death or capture because the army was exhausted. ammunition.
“Today will probably be the last battle, because there is no ammunition left. There is a hand-to-hand combat out there. Some people are dead out there, others are captured” – according to the Facebook post.
Some Ukrainian officials at the time said the post could be fake and that the army was still holding out.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, 151 wounded Ukrainian soldiers were treated on the spot and taken to the city hospital Mariupol.
at Blogtuan.info – Source: laodong.vn – Read the original article here