Russian Defense Minister Sergei Choïgou said on Friday that the conquest of Ukraine’s Lugansk region in the east of the country is imminent. According to him, 1,908 Ukrainian soldiers hiding at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol surrendered.

“Russian forces and people’s militias of the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics continue to maintain control over the Donbass territory. The liberation of the Lugansk People’s Republic is almost over,” the minister quoted by Russian agencies said.

Before the start of the offensive in Ukraine, launched on February 24, Moscow recognized the independence of the separatist Donetsk and Lugansk regions, which since 2014 had been partially controlled by pro-Russians. In Lugansk, the Russians besieged Severodonetsk and Lyssytchansk, the last stronghold of the Ukrainian resistance, two towns separated by a river.

He also said that 1,908 Ukrainian soldiers, who had been stationed for weeks at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, southeast Ukraine, have surrendered since Monday. The army became a symbol of resistance to Russian aggression.

Ukraine wants to organize a prisoner-of-war exchange, but Russia has said several times that it sees the fighters – or at least some of them – as neo-Nazis, not soldiers.

Russia announces the establishment of new military bases

At the same meeting, the defense minister stated that Russia will establish new military bases in the west of its territory in response to NATO expansion. “By the end of the year, 12 military units and divisions will be established in the Western Military District,” said Serguei Shoigu.

He added that the army expects to receive more than 2,000 military equipment and weapons. Russia’s military action in Ukraine changed the stance of Sweden and Finland, which decided to apply for NATO membership after decades of non-alliance.

The defense minister also referred to the “increasing military threat” on Russia’s borders and NATO exercises to “defend Europe” in Russia’s west and southwest, as well as in the Arctic.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously announced that Russia’s reaction to the possible participation of the two countries will be determined by how NATO will establish itself in these countries. Russia justified the invasion of Ukraine as a way to prevent a genocide against pro-Russian populations and limit the expansion of the Western military alliance.

(with information from AFP)