More than 1,000 marines have surrendered in the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, Russia has claimed.
Russia’s defense ministry says exactly 1,026 marines, including 162 officers, have waved the white flag as President Vladimir Putin continues his invasion of Ukraine.
Mariupol, which has been in Russia’s crosshairs for weeks, has seen the bloodiest fighting yet since Russian forces launched an unprovoked attack on the country Feb. 24.
Pro-Russian troops ride an armored personnel carrier during the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the outskirts of the southern port city of Mariupol on April 12, 2022.REUTERS
Despite Russia’s claim, a top adviser to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the marines — part of Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade — have broken through to connect with the Sea of Azov port and that Mariupol is still standing.
Oleksiy Arestovych said on Facebook that the city’s defense system has increased and strengthened.
Russia is now said to be shifting its main focus on the Sea of Azov port — the biggest target in the eastern Donbas region. If captured, it would be the first major city to fall since the war began.
Its capture would help secure a land passage between separatist-held eastern areas and Crimea, which Russia seized in 2014.
If Russian forces seize the Azovstal industrial district, Mariupol will become the first city to fall to Russia since the invasion began. AFP via Getty Images
“In the town of Mariupol, near the Ilyich Iron and Steel Works, as a result of successful offensives by Russian armed forces and Donetsk People’s Republic militia units, 1,026 Ukrainian soldiers of the 36th Marine Brigade voluntarily laid down arms and surrendered,” the ministry said in a statement.
The surrender has not been officially confirmed.
On Monday, a post on the Ukrainian marine brigade’s Facebook page had said the unit was preparing for a final battle in Mariupol that would end in death or capture as its troops had run out of ammunition.
“Today will probably be the ultimate battle, as there is no ammo left,” said the post. “Beyond that: hand to hand fighting. Beyond that, for some death, for others capture.”
Some Ukrainian officials said at the time that the post may have been fake, and that troops were still holding out.
The Russian defense ministry said 151 wounded Ukrainian soldiers were treated on the spot and taken to Mariupol’s city hospital.
Ukraine claims thousands of people have been trapped in Mariupol without access to food or water. AFP via Getty Images
Earlier on Wednesday, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who says his forces are playing a major role in Russia’s battle for Mariupol — a linchpin between Russian-held areas to the west and east — claimed that more than 1,000 Ukrainian marines had surrendered.
He urged remaining forces holed up in the Azovstal steel mill to surrender.
Mariupol’s city council said it is impossible to examine the area because of enemy fire. It added that the city’s civilian population had minimal contact with an unspecified poison but that Ukrainian soldiers had come into closer contact and were being observed for possible symptoms.
Zelensky said Monday night that Russia could resort to chemical weapons as it massed troops in the eastern Donbas region for a new assault on Mariupol. He did not say if they actually had been used.
With Post wires