Military Ukraine ordered the soldiers at the Azovstal steel mill, Mariupol, to stop fighting against the troops Russia on Friday (20/5).
“Higher military commands have given orders to save the lives of our garrison soldiers and to stop defending the city,” Denys Prokopenko, the leader of the battalion unit trapped in Azovstal, said in a video statement on Telegram.
Prokopenko also said that the process of evacuating the bodies of the slain soldiers from the factory was ongoing. According to Prokopenko, their priority right now is to evacuate the soldiers trapped in the factory.
“We always emphasize our three most important conditions, namely civilians, injured and dead,” he said.
Prokopenko said civilians were being evacuated through underground tunnels at the Azovstal steel plant. The evacuation was led by the United Nations.
He also made sure that the wounded soldiers had received assistance. However, there are still many soldiers’ bodies there.
“I now wish the families and all Ukrainians to bury their fighters with honor,” Prokopenko said.
The Ukrainian government also hopes that the Azovstal soldiers currently being held by Russia can be exchanged for the Moscow troops they are holding captive.
The order to stop the attack was issued after about 1,000 Ukrainian troops at the steel factory reportedly surrendered amid a massive onslaught of Russian troops.
The Azovstal steel mill is indeed one of the hottest battlefields in Mariupol as it is considered the last stronghold of Ukrainian troops in the city.
(pwn/has)
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