Russia announced the surrender of more than a thousand Ukrainian sailors defending the besieged city of Mariupol. The statement also reported that the port in the city was seized. While the Ukrainians continue to resist Mariupol not to fall, the civilian deaths in the city are horrendous.
One of the most critical conflicts of the Ukraine-Russia war is taking place in Mariupol. Russia’s defense ministry, which besieged the city, announced that 1,026 soldiers from Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade “voluntarily surrendered”. In the statement, it was reported that there were 162 officers among the soldiers who surrendered.
The statement went on to say that the “trading port” of Mariupol is under the full control of Russian forces.
The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, on the other hand, stated that they did not know about the surrender.
On the other hand, Chechen leader Ramazan Kadyrov, who said his forces played an important role in the war, called on the last Ukrainians trapped in Azovstal to surrender. The 26th Marine Brigade said on Monday that it was preparing for a final battle in Mariupol.
Located in the east of the Donbas region, the main target of the Russians, the city was besieged and turned into rubble during the Russian occupation. The mayor of the city said that 21,000 civilians were killed, with more than 100,000 civilians waiting to be evacuated.
If the city is captured, it will be the first time a major Ukrainian city has fallen in the war. It will also help Russia secure a land transition between the independence-declared republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, which it annexed in 2014.