The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday that since Monday, 959 Ukrainian soldiers entrenched in the Azovstal steel plant have surrenderedin the port city of Mariupol, in southeastern Ukraine.
(Also read: Ukraine blames Russia for the ‘pause’ in the peace negotiations)
“In the last 24 hours, 694 combatants, including 29 wounded, have become prisoners. Since May 16, 959 combatants, including 80 woundedThey have surrendered, the ministry said in a statement.
According to the same source, 51 of them were hospitalized in Novoazovsk, a town controlled by the Russians and their separatist allies in the Donetsk region (east).
The ministry did not specify what fate these prisoners will have. The Russian authorities have repeatedly indicated that at least some of them are not considered soldiers, but rather neo-Nazi fighters.
(You may be interested in: Mariúpol falls into Russian hands after Ukraine abandoned the fight in Azovstal)
The Ukrainian authorities want to organize an exchange of prisoners of war for their part.
These soldiers were entrenched in the labyrinth of underground galleries of the huge Azovstal steelworks, which has become an international symbol of Ukrainian resistance to the offensive launched by Russia on February 24.
The strategic city of Mariupol, where this industrial complex is located, was severely damaged by the fighting and the Russian siege.
The Ministry of Defense published a video about this second operation or “surrender” as Moscow calls it, which does not specify if there are still other defenders in Azovstal or if it intends to exchange them for Russian prisoners as kyiv has proposed.
The images show how the soldiers who left the metallurgical plant, including some women, leave the Azovstal territory with their mats and suitcases in a row and stand in a single line to be searched by Russian soldiers.
Some rely on crutches and even sticks to walk, others are blindfolded and others are taken on a stretcher to an ambulance.
(Also: The Ukrainian army considers its mission accomplished in Mariupol)
Russia accuses Ukraine of not wanting to negotiate
In addition, Russia affirmed this Wednesday that denotes a “total unwillingness” on the part of Ukraine to continue negotiations with Moscow to achieve a ceasefire, after indicating the day before that there is currently no type of open dialogue.
“The talks are in fact not progressing. And we see a complete lack of desire on the part of the Ukrainian negotiators to continue this process,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said in his daily telephone briefing.
In response to a question about whether the talks could be resumed after all Ukrainian defenders have left the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, Peskov disassociated this operation from the negotiations.
“I don’t think these are strongly interrelated processes,” he said.
(Keep reading: Ukraine pressures the EU to sanction all Russian exports)
We note a complete lack of desire on the part of the Ukrainian negotiators to continue this process
On Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko assured that between Russia and Ukraine there are currently “no kind” of negotiations.
“Negotiations are not continuing. Ukraine has in fact abandoned the negotiating process,” Rudenko was quoted as saying by the Interfax agency.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday criticized Washington and London for “guiding” Ukraine during previous rounds of negotiations with Russia.
The adviser to the Ukrainian Presidency Mykhailo Podolyak confirmed the day before that the negotiations with Russia are “on hold”, because Moscow is reluctant to accept that the conditions that prevailed at the start of the Russian military campaign in Ukraine have changed substantially.
Negotiations between the parties stalled a month and a half ago, after the fighting in Mariupol intensified and images of Bucha came to light.
The last round of face-to-face talks between the delegates from both countries took place in Istanbul on March 29.
EFE and AFP
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