Russia claimed that it captured the Azovstal factory complex in Mariupol and also said that it captured the strategic port city as well on Saturday. Russia says it has full control over Mariupol and a report by news agency Associated Press said that Sergei Shoigu reported to Russia president Vladimir Putin confirming that the city as a whole is now under the Russian forces.
Russian defence ministry spokesperson major general Igor Konashenkov said that 2,439 so-called ‘Azov Nazis’ were among those who laid down their arms adding that a last group of 531 Ukrainian servicemen were also among those who surrendered.
The Ukrainian government is yet to confirm the development.
Russian president Vladimir Putin earlier in April ordered the Russian army not to storm the Azovstal steel plant but blockade it in a manner that even ‘a fly cannot get inside’.
The Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol was the last stronghold of the Ukrainian resistance in the city and was the site of intense battle between both sides since last month. However, to military analysts the victory is likely to be symbolic as most of the city was effectively under Russian control.
However, the city has turned from a bustling coastal business centre to a jungle of burnt, smoking concrete rubble due to fierce fighting.
Russian forces, who instigated the war on Ukraine under the guise of a military operation and on directions from Putin, inflicted heavy damage to the steel plant Metallurgical Combine Azovstal and the other parts of the port city, leading to deaths of more than 20,000 civilians. It has also led to the exodus of more than a million people.
Russia said that leader of so-called ‘Azov Nazis’ was escorted to another location via an armored vehicle.
Civilians in Mariupol – around 100,000 as more than 400,000 fled the war – continue to suffer without food, water, heat or electricity. Most do not have shelter atop their heads as buildings were left shattered or hollowed-out due to continuous bombardment since April.
The capture of Mariupol allows Russians to build a land bridge to Crimea and take full control of the Sea of Azov, essentially cutting off Ukraine’s maritime trade. Mariupol bore the full brunt of the invasion and it was subjected to siege – a medieval technique to force citadels into submission – since the beginning of the invasion.
Civilians dug improvised burial sites to bury the dead civilians and forces. A maternity hospital, a theater and residential societies were targeted by the Russians.
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