Russia: 959 Ukrainian troops surrender in Mariupol
Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday
that 959 Ukrainian troops have surrendered this week at the last stronghold in
the besieged port city of Mariupol.
A ministry spokesman told reporters that
number included 694 who had surrendered during the past 24 hours.
Ukrainian officials have not confirmed the
figures. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar said Monday more than
260 fighters had left the ruins of the Azovstal steel plant and turned
themselves over to Russian forces, in line with numbers given by Russia.
Russia called the operation a mass surrender.
The Ukrainians, in contrast, said its garrison had completed its mission.
“The goal was that our guys, who heroically
defend the city and restrain the enemy directly in Mariupol, did not allow them
to pass through Mariupol,” Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko told VOA’s Ukrainian
Service. “That is, they saved the nation, they allowed the Armed Forces of
Ukraine to prepare and other cities to be more prepared for this terrible war
that has already taken place in Ukraine.”
It was not clear what would happen to the
Ukrainian fighters. Russian officials cast doubt on a full-scale prisoner
exchange.
The capture of Mariupol, a prewar city of
430,000 people along the north coast of the Sea of Azov, would be Moscow’s
biggest success in its nearly three-month offensive against Ukraine.
But Russia is struggling to capture more
territory in eastern Ukraine and has failed to topple the government of
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy or take the capital, Kyiv.
A senior U.S. Defense Department official
said Wednesday that Russia is making some "incremental progress in the
direction of the Black Sea” near Kherson and Mykolayiv, as well as in Donetsk.
But Russian progress overall is "fairly
limited ... a few kilometres maybe every day,” the official said, adding that
Moscow’s offensives are becoming smaller, more localized.
The official said that Russian logistical
issues remain: “They have not corrected their coordination issues. … Their
communications are still not very efficient between commanders.”
Under constant Russian shelling, which
Ukraine estimates have killed 20,000 civilians in Mariupol, much of the city
has been reduced to rubble. What’s left of it is situated between the Russian
mainland and the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told
reporters Tuesday it is “difficult to know” what the end of combat operations
in Mariupol means.
“We have long talked about the significance
of Mariupol as a major economic port on the Sea of Azov and also geographically
relevant to the fighting in the east,” Kirby said.
He added that Russia has a clear intent “to
encircle and to occupy the Donbas and the eastern part of the country,” but
that “they have not succeeded in that.”
NATO
expansion
Sweden and Finland presented their
applications to join the NATO military alliance Wednesday in Brussels, with
ambassadors from both countries meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens
Stoltenberg.
“This is a good day at a critical moment for our
security,” Stoltenberg told reporters. “Thank you so much for handing over the
applications for Finland’s and Sweden’s membership in NATO. Every nation has
the right to choose its own path. You have both made your own choice after
thorough democratic processes, and I warmly welcome the requests by Finland and
Sweden to join NATO.”
The moves come in response to Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine and represent major shifts for both Sweden and Finland
which have long stayed out of such alliances.
Their applications must be approved by all 30
of the existing NATO members. Turkey has expressed its opposition, with Turkish
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accusing Sweden and Finland of giving safe haven
to “terrorists” and imposing sanctions on Turkey.
Discussion of Turkey’s position will continue
Wednesday as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosts Turkish Foreign
Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in New York.
U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price
told reporters Tuesday that after talks with NATO allies there is a “strong
consensus” for admitting Sweden and Finland, and that “we are confident we’ll
be able to preserve that consensus.”
Want to send us a story? SMS to 25170 or WhatsApp 0743570000 or Submit on Citizen Digital or email wananchi@royalmedia.co.ke
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a Comment