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After 86 days of resistance, the steel mill, symbol of the defense of Mariupol and Ukraine, was therefore conquered. In less than 100 hours from the start of the evacuations, a total of 2,439 Ukrainian fighters surrendered and surrendered to the enemy, as ordered by the Kiev General Staff since it was “impossible to unblock” the stalemate “by military means”, he explained. President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The commanders of the Azov regiment and other troops barricaded in the tunnels tried to stay until the last possible moment. “The military superior command has given the order to save the lives of the soldiers of our garrison and to stop defending the city of Mariupol”, said in his latest video the commander of Azov, Denis Prokopenko, who on Monday gave the green light to the exits of his comrades after the first diktat on surrender that came from Kiev.
Moscow in the evening released the video of their surrender, claiming that Prokopenko was taken away “in a special armored vehicle” to the territories controlled by Russia. Now, for Kiev it will be time for negotiations to attempt an exchange of prisoners with Moscow. Zelensky explained that these will also be conducted with international mediation, citing the contribution of Turkey, Switzerland, Israel and France.
As Azovstal falls, the offensive is experiencing a new dramatic acceleration in eastern Ukraine. The bombing targeted 54 settlements in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Among the areas hardest hit by the new raids there is also the Chernihiv oblast, where the village of Desna was targeted, causing “many deaths”. According to Defense Minister Shoigu, Moscow troops “continue to expand their control over the Donbass territories. The liberation of the Lugansk People’s Republic – he predicted – is nearing its end”. The price of the attempted conquest, Kiev again denounced, is the devastation of centers like Rubizhne, which was “completely destroyed, there are no surviving buildings, many houses cannot be restored. There are cemeteries in the courtyards”.
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