At the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, southeast Ukraine, 1,908 Ukrainian soldiers have surrendered in recent days, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Friday.
Minister Serguei Choigu said, “Nationalists blocked in the facility have begun to surrender. So far, 1,908 people have surrendered their weapons.”
At an army summit meeting broadcast on Russian television, the minister reported that the siege of the steel mill was continuing.
Choigu also assured that 117 civilians, 85 women and 47 minors, had left the Azovstal plant.
“The Russian armed forces are doing everything to not allow civilian casualties. There are humanitarian corridors for that to happen on a permanent basis,” he said.
According to Choigu, in total “more than 1,370,700 people were evacuated to Russia from the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics and from Ukraine”.
The Russian government official informed the participants of the meeting about the so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine and assured that Moscow forces will control the entire territory of one of the provinces, which is Russia’s main target.
“The liberation of the Lugansk People’s Republic is approaching,” said Choigu.
source: Noticias
