Moscow says more Mariupol fighters will surrender.Kyiv is silent about their destiny

ryanniesMay 18, 2022

KYIV / MARIUPOL — Russia said on Wednesday that nearly 700 more Ukrainian fighters had surrendered to Mariupol, but pro-Russian separatist leaders said the commander was under the giant Azovstal ironworks. He said he was still trapped in the tunnel.

More than a day after Kyiv announced that he had ordered the Garrison Army in Mariupol to evict, the end result of Europe’s bloodiest battle remained unresolved. Ukrainian authorities have stopped all public debates about the fate of the fighter that took its last position there.

“The state is making every effort to carry out the rescue of our military personnel. Wait. Currently, the most important thing is to save the lives of our heroes,” said military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzaynik. Said at a press conference. “Information to the general public can endanger the process.”

The Russian Defense Ministry said that 694 fighters surrendered overnight, bringing the total number of people with weapons to 959. Denis Pushilin, the leader of the pro-Russian separatists who dominate the region, was quoted by the local news agency DNA. As the main commander says he was still in the factory.

Ukrainian officials confirmed the surrender of more than 250 fighters on Tuesday. But they didn’t say how many more were inside or what would happen to them.

“Unfortunately, this subject is so sensitive that we can’t say anything more because there is a very vulnerable series of discussions today,” said Mariupol Mayor Vadim Boychenko. He said President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Red Cross and the United Nations had participated in the talks, but did not provide further details.

The negotiations over Mariupol’s surrender took place when Finland and Sweden officially applied for NATO, one of the main reasons why Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a “special military operation” in February. It has brought about the great expansion that I have mentioned for a long time.

The final surrender of Mariupol will result in a nearly three-month siege of a once prosperous city of more than 400,000 people. Ukraine states that Russian bombardment killed tens of thousands of civilians.

Ukrainian officials talked about their hopes of arranging prisoner exchanges for the defenders of Mariupol, who they describe as national heroes. Moscow says such a deal was not made for fighters. Many are from units of far-right origin, which are called Nazis.

Russia said more than 50 injured fighters were taken to hospitals for treatment, and other fighters were taken to a newly reopened prison in a pro-Russian separatist-owned town. say. Reuters journalists filmed a bus carrying captured fighters to both locations.

The Kremlin says Putin personally guaranteed the humane treatment of the surrendered people. Other prominent Russian politicians have publicly called on them to never be exchanged, or even for their execution.

Finland and Sweden apply to NATO

The Swedish and Finnish ambassadors handed over the NATO membership application at a ceremony at the Alliance Headquarters in Brussels.

“This is a historic moment we have to capture,” said NATO Secretary-General Jason Stoltenberg.

Turkey recently surprised its allies by saying it would block the accession of Scandinavian members unless they did more to crack down on Kurdish militants on their territory. Mr Stortemberg said he believes the problem can be overcome, and Mr Washington also said he hopes the problem will be resolved.

Finland and Sweden, which share a 1,300 km (810 mile) border with Russia, have been military non-aligned during the Cold War, and their decision to join the alliance has been European security for decades. It represents the greatest change in security. This will more than double the alliance’s border with Russia and allow NATO to control almost the entire Baltic coast.

A few weeks after Russia threatened retaliation against the plan, Putin said in a speech this Monday that Russia was “no problem” in either Finland or Sweden, and that NATO membership would not be an issue. The alliance sent more troops and weapons there.

Despite wars and sanctions, Russia continues to be Europe’s main source of energy. European countries are under pressure to reduce trade, Moscow’s largest source of funding.

On Wednesday, the EU’s European Commission announced a € 210 billion plan for Europe to end Russia’s dependence on oil, gas and coal by 2027. This includes plans to more than double the EU’s renewable energy capacity by 2030.

As a further sign of Russia’s isolation, Moscow banished 85 diplomats from France, Spain and Italy on Wednesday and retaliated against the return of the same number of Russians. Since the invasion on February 24, European countries have abandoned a total of more than 300 Russian diplomats.

Google said it had to shut down after Russian units filed for bankruptcy and their bank accounts were seized, making it the latest western power to withdraw from Russia.

victory

The surrender of the steelworks in Mariupol will allow Putin to claim a rare victory in a campaign that would otherwise fail. In recent weeks, Russian troops have abandoned the area around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, and have retreated fastest since they were expelled from the north and around Kyiv at the end of March.

Nevertheless, Moscow has continued its main attacks to occupy more territory in the Donbus region of southeastern Ukraine, which it claims to replace the separatists who have supported it since 2014.

Mariupol, the main port of Donbus, is the largest city ever occupied by Russia, giving Moscow full control of the uninterrupted territory that straddles the Sea of Azov and the east and south of Ukraine. The siege was the deadliest battle in Europe, at least since the war in Chechnya and the Balkans in the 1990s.

Months of city resistance have become a global symbol of Ukraine’s refusal to surrender against far-armed enemies, but its nearly complete destruction will set fire to densely populated areas. Showed Russian tactics.

(Reported by Natalia Zinets and Max Hunder of Kyiv, and Reuters journalists of Mariupol. Additional report by Reutersbureaux Written by Peter Graff, edited by Nick Macfie)