Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Vladimir Putin on Friday that the “complete liberation” of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol and the city as a whole is under Russian control, spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
“The territory of the Azovstal metallurgical plant… has been completely liberated,” the defence ministry said in a statement. Russia’s state news agency further quoted the ministry saying a total of 2,439 Ukrainian fighters who had been holed up in the steelworks have surrendered and this includes 500 more fighters who surrendered on Monday.
A defence ministry video showed a line of men who were unarmed approaching Russian soldiers outside the plant and giving their names. The Russian soldiers searched the men and their possessions and asked that they show their tattoos.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the last defenders at the Azovstal steelworks were told by the Ukraine military that they could get out and save their lives. Ukraine General Staff of Armed Forces did not confirm the Russian claims their morning meeting on Saturday.
Russian authorities have threatened to investigate of the Ukraine soldier who have surrendered at the Azovstal steelworks for war crimes and put them on trial, branding the “Nazis” and criminals. The threat has sparked international fears about the Ukrainian soldier’s fate.
Source: Aljazeera, Eyewitness News, The News, The Times of Israel, image from Twitter
Link to the video: https://twitter.com/timand2037/status/1528167310820794369?s=20&t=xDRB5Im9UQZ0oRIf9lOeHg