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Recent Ukrainian soldiers hiding in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol say Kiev “ordered” them to stop fighting, while Russia is intensifying its attack on eastern Ukraine, targeting Donbas, which President Volodymyr Zelensky says now it looks like “hell”.
“The Supreme Military Command gave the order to save the lives of the soldiers of our garrison and to stop the defense of the city“, Told the Telegram, the commander of the battalion that led the Azovstal soldiers, Denys Prokopenko.
“The civilians were evacuated. “The seriously injured were given the necessary assistance and they were evacuated, to be exchanged and brought to the territory controlled by Ukraine.”added Prokopenko.
He stressed that the process of transferring the dead from Azovstal is still ongoing and that he “hopes that in the near future, relatives and Ukraine will be able to bury their soldiers with honor.”
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that so far, about 2,000 Ukrainian fighters hiding in the steel plant have surrendered.
““The blockade of the Azovstal factory continues,” said Shoigu. “The nationalists are actively surrendering to captivity,” he said, referring to Ukrainian fighters. “At this moment, 1908 people have handed over their weapons”.
Ukrainian officials have not confirmed this number.
Soldiers who fled Azovstal, including those wounded, were reportedly transferred to eastern Ukraine, which is under the control of Russian-backed separatists.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said hundreds of Ukrainian fighters who fled the Azovstal factory in Mariupol were registered as prisoners of war.
The Red Cross emphasizes that the registration of combatants as prisoners of war is “important to ensure that they are cared for and treated humanely and with dignity”, and that the organization be able to track captives and ‘help them stay in touch with their families.
Kiev has expressed hope that the fighters will be exchanged for Russian prisoners, but Moscow-backed authorities in Donetsk have suggested some of them may be tried.
Local military officials in southeastern Ukraine said about 1,000 vehicles carrying Ukrainian civilians were prevented from passing through the territory of Zaporozhye, which is under Ukrainian control.
The regional military administration announced on May 20 that vehicles full of people who tried to evacuate were stranded at a Russian checkpoint in the town of Vasilivka.
According to local authorities in Luhansk, at least 13 civilians have been killed in a Russian bombardment in the last 24 hours.
The Office of the Chief State Prosecutor of Ukraine said that by May 20, 232 children had been killed and 427 injured since the beginning of the Russian occupation.
In a regular address to the nation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had “completely destroyed” the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas.
“There is hell and this is not an exaggeration“Zelensky said in his speech overnight, reiterating his accusation that Russia was committing genocide, a claim which Moscow has denied.
Shoigu said on May 20 that the “liberation of the Luhansk People’s Republic,” a territory in Ukraine that Russia has recognized as independent and controlled by Moscow-backed separatists, will soon be completed.
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