Russia announced the capture of Azovstal in Mariupol. What is known
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On May 20, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that all defending Ukrainian citizens had left the Azovstal territories. There is no independent confirmation of this information. Unites the territory of the bastion of the defenders of Mariupol, which came under the control of Russia in the past.
According to a statement by the US Department of Defense, the head of the department, Sergei Shoigu, reported to Vladimir Putin on Friday about “the completion of the operation and the complete liberation of the plant and the city of Mariupol.”
According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, a total of 2,439 Ukrainian soldiers who are on the territory of Azovstal surrendered in captivity.
The Ukrainian authorities officially handed over the plant to state troops did not comment. Previously, they called what was happening a “rescue operation” of the military, avoiding the terms “captivity” or “surrender.”
In this last evening meeting of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, the end of the operation at the plant was not mentioned, but before that, on the air of the telethon, it was stated that “this afternoon all civilians, doctors, and the wounded were taken out of Azovstal.” “In the near future, not even one of these days, the export of everyone will be completed,” the Ukrainian added.
On Friday evening, a video appeared in the state Russian media and pro-government telegram channels with the defender of Azovstal, the commander of the 36th Marine Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Sergei Volynsky (call sign “Volyn”), in which he stated and suggested that he was taken prisoner. It was also alleged that a group of residents left the commander of “Azov” Denis Prokopenko (call sign “Redis”) and the castle Svyatoslav Palamara (call sign “Kalina”). Video recordings with them have not been published.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that the commander of Azov, Prokopenko, was taken out of the territory of the plant specifically for armored vehicles, attributing “because of the danger of the Mariupol residents and the desire of the townspeople to punish him for discovering atrocities.” In the past, officials have repeatedly found that “Ukrainian nationalists” were blamed for the indiscriminate bombing and mass deaths of civilians resulting from the siege of Mariupol. In mid-April, the OSCE Mission published a report on global emergencies and violations of humanitarian law related to military personnel in Mariupol.
What awaits the Ukrainian military
The Russian Defense Ministry reports that the wounded defenders of Azovstal are being sent to medical facilities in Novoazovsk and Donetsk on the territory of the self-proclaimed DPR.
The sick part of the prisoners of war was sent to a correctional colony in the village of Yelenovka near Donetsk – by appointment of the adviser to the mayor of Mariupol Pyotr Andryushchenko, there are already three or four Mariupol residents who have not passed the so-called filtration.
At least 89 more people from among the defenders of Azovstal were taken to Russia and executed in SIZO-2 in Taganrog. According to TASS, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation is conducting a request for consideration by the Ukrainian military as part of an investigation into “the crimes of the Ukrainian regime.”
According to the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Kira Rudik, who participated in the negotiations on Azovstal, the security of the Ukrainian military was guaranteed by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN.
But the question of the future defenders of Azovstal remains uncertain.
Kyiv returned the military to the masses under its control, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said she hopes for the exchange of wounded Ukrainian soldiers after their growth into Russian prisoners of war.
Many Russian politicians and pro-government media are against the discussion. In particular, State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin instructed a State Duma committee to prepare a resolution prohibiting the exchange of “Nazi criminals” (as the members of the Ukrainian Azov regiment were called in the Duma).
In response, the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Anna Malyar, did not think too much about the appeal of Russian deputies not to exchange captured fighters of the Azov regiment: these appeals, in her opinion, can be designed for an audience.
Siege of Azovstal
Active hostilities at Azovstal on March 18, 2022. In early March, Mariupol itself was surrounded by Russian troops. At the same time, Azovstal is under control, as Ukrainian prisoners of war have taken refuge at the plant, including those from the Azov regiment, who defended themselves at the plant.
On April 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin “on camera” held a meeting with the Minister of Defense, canceled the order to storm Azovstal and instructed the military to block industrial enterprises. Nevertheless, the bombings and the storming of the plant, according to the Ukrainian side, have not disappeared.
The sick and civilians who remained at Azovstal refused to surrender and were the result of a blockade: they had almost no water, food, medicines and food.
At the same time, the Russian military did not succeed in capturing Azovstal. The plant occupies most of the Kalmius River on one side and the Sea of Azov on the other. The plant has its own cargo port and an extensive system of underground utilities. The assault on such an infantry fortified area can last weeks without a guaranteed result.
The American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believes that Russian sources are increasing the number of Ukrainian soldiers who have left Azovstal. According to the ISW, this could be done either to negotiate a maximum prisoner exchange, or to avoid the embarrassing admission that only “hundreds” of Ukrainian soldiers managed to keep the escalation under control for so long.
In times of war, the BBC cannot promptly obtain information from persons representing belligerents.