- Hundreds of Ukrainian Marines are surrendering in Mariupol, Russia said
- The fall of the industrial area will give the Russians control of the port
- Thousands are believed to have been killed in a nearly seven-week siege
LVIV, Ukraine, April 13 (Reuters) – More than 1,000 Ukrainian marines have surrendered in the besieged port of Mariupol, Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday. .
If the Russians take over the Azovstal industrial area, where marines are hiding, they will have full control of Mariupol, allowing Russia to strengthen the land corridor between the separatist-held eastern regions and the Crimean region it captured and annexed in 2014. read more
Surrounded by Russian troops for weeks, Mariupol will be the first major city to fall since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th, with the battle for the Donbass industrial center likely to determine the course of the war. Read more
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Ukraine’s General Staff said Russian forces were continuing to attack Azovstal and the port, but a Defense Ministry spokesman said there was no information on the surrender. Read more
Reuters reporters accompanying Russian-backed separatists saw flames from the Azovstal region on Tuesday.
On Monday, the 36th Marine Brigade said it was preparing for a final battle in Mariupol that would result in death or capture as its troops ran out of ammunition.
Thousands are believed to have been killed in Mariupol, and Russia is gathering thousands of troops in the area for another attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Ukraine says tens of thousands of civilians have been trapped in the city with no way to bring food or water, and accuses Russia of blocking aid convoys.
Russia’s Defense Ministry says 1,026 soldiers from Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade have surrendered, including 162 officers.
WARNING FOR CHEMICAL WEAPONS
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, an ardent supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has called on other Ukrainians hiding in Azovstal to surrender.
“There are currently about 200 wounded in Azovstal who cannot receive any medical care,” Kadyrov told Telegram. “It would be better for them and everyone else to put an end to this senseless resistance and go home to their families.
Russian television showed pictures of what it said were Marines handing over to the Ilyich Metallurgical Plant in Mariupol on Tuesday, injuring many.
It showed Ukrainian soldiers marching on the road with their hands up. One of the soldiers was shown with a Ukrainian passport.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hana Malyar said there was a high risk of Russia using chemical weapons, echoing earlier warnings from Zelensky, who told the Estonian parliament on Wednesday via video link that Russia was using phosphorus bombs to terrorize civilians. Read more
He did not provide evidence, and Reuters was unable to independently verify his claim.
Pro-Russian troops ride in an armored vehicle during battles in the Ukraine-Russia conflict near the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works plant in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, April 12, 2022. REUTERS / Alexander Ermochenko
Read more
The production, use and storage of chemical weapons are banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997. Although condemned by human rights groups, white phosphorus is not banned. Read more
Russia denies using chemical weapons, saying it destroyed its last chemical stockpile in 2017.
Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the largest attack on a European country since 1945, has led to more than 4.6 million people fleeing abroad, killing or injuring thousands, and leaving Russia increasingly isolated on the world stage.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office said 191 children had been killed and 349 injured since the invasion.
The Kremlin says it has launched a “special military operation” to demilitarize and “denationalize” Ukraine. Kyiv and its Western allies have dismissed this as a false pretext for an unprovoked attack.
FOUR PRESIDENTS VISIT Kyiv
The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were on their way to Kyiv to meet with Zelenski, an adviser to the Polish leader said on Wednesday.
The four are joining a growing number of European politicians visiting the Ukrainian capital after Russian forces were expelled from the north earlier this month.
US President Joe Biden said for the first time that Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine was genocide, as Putin said Russia would continue its operation “rhythmically and calmly” and achieve its goals.
Russia has denied targeting civilians, saying Ukrainian and Western war crimes allegations have been fabricated.
Many cities from which Russia has withdrawn to northern Ukraine are littered with the bodies of civilians killed in a campaign of murder, torture and rape that Kyiv said was.
The Interfax Ukraine news agency on Wednesday quoted the Kyiv police chief as saying that 720 bodies had been found in the area around the capital, with more than 200 missing.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Russian forces continue attacks on civilian infrastructure in the Kharkiv region in the northeast and the Zaporozhye region in central Ukraine.
At least seven people have been killed and 22 injured in Kharkiv in the past 24 hours, Governor Oleg Sinegubov said. A 2-year-old boy was among those killed in 53 artillery or missile strikes by Russian forces in the region, he said in an online publication.
Reuters could not independently verify the information.
Russia denies attacking civilians. On Tuesday, Putin used his first public comments on the conflict in more than a week to say that Russia would continue its operation “rhythmically and calmly” and expressed confidence that its goals would be achieved.
Zelensky mocked Putin in an early morning address: “How can a plan be implemented that envisions the deaths of tens of thousands of its own soldiers in just over a month of war?”
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Reuters bureau reporting; Screenplay by Michael Perry and Nick McPhee; Edited by Stephen Coates, Simon Cameron-Moore and Alex Richardson
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