Moscow. May 20. Interfax – Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the completion of the transfer of surrendered Ukrainian military from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol and full control over the city, the Defense Ministry said.

As reported in the military department, Shoigu reported to Putin on “the completion of the operation and the complete liberation of the plant and the city of Mariupol”

The department said that the territory of the Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol, where a group of Ukrainian formations had been blocked since April 21, was “completely liberated.”

They said that the underground facilities of the enterprise came under the full control of the Russian armed forces.

According to Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov, since May 16 at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, 2,439 Ukrainian soldiers from the Azov regiment and servicemen of the armed forces have surrendered and were blocked on the territory of the plant.

“Today, May 20, the last captured group of 531 militants surrendered,” Konashenkov said.

The commander of the “Azov” was taken out of the plant in a special armored car “because of the fear of the Mariupol residents and the desire of the townspeople to punish him for atrocities.”