Rus: "Mariupol Steel Plant Ukrainian Soldiers Surrender Over 1,700"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on the 19th (local time) that the number of Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered after fighting at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, has exceeded 1,700.

According to TASS news agency, Igor Konashenkov, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Defense, held a briefing that day and stated, "In the past day, 771 nationalist battalion fighters surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol."

He added, "Since the 16th, including 80 wounded, a total of 1,730 Ukrainian soldiers have surrendered as prisoners."

Mariupol is considered a strategic point connecting the Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula and the pro-Russian Donbas region. Since the start of the special military operation at the end of February, Russian forces have besieged and concentrated their attacks on Mariupol.

The Ukrainian military made the Azovstal steel plant their last stronghold and resisted until the end, but on the morning of the 17th, the Ukrainian General Staff effectively announced the abandonment of the city.