Russia says 1,026 Ukrainian marines surrendered in Mariupol
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Pro-Russian troops ride an armoured vehicle near a Azovstal metal works plant in Mariupol on April 12, 2022.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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KYIV (REUTERS) - Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday (April 13) that 1,026 soldiers of Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade, including 162 officers, had surrendered in the besieged port city of Mariupol.
"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.
Russia said 151 wounded Ukrainian soldiers were treated on the spot and taken to Mariupol’s city hospital.
Ukrainian defence ministry spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said he had no information about the surrender.
"I don’t have information," Mr Motuzyanyk said in a message.
Earlier on Wednesday, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said more than 1,000 Ukrainian marines had surrendered in Mariupol and urged remaining forces holed up in the Azovstal steel mill to surrender.
"Within Azovstal at the moment there are about 200 wounded who cannot receive any medical assistance," Kadyrov said in his post. "For them and all the rest it would be better to end this pointless resistance and go home to their families."
Kadyrov is an ardent supporter of Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and has deployed many of his fighters in Ukraine to bolster Russia's drive to "demilitarise" and "denazify" Ukraine.
In earlier postings, he vowed to proceed with the capture of Mariupol and to press on to take all other Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv.
Russian television pictures showed what it said were Ukrainian soldiers being marched down a road with their hands in the air. One of the soldiers was shown holding a Ukrainian passport.
