On the 84th day of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the steel site of Azovstal, in Mariupol, continues to empty with, according to the Russians, the surrender of 694 new Ukrainian fighters during the last 24 hours.
At the same time, Finland and Sweden have submitted their applications to join NATO as fighting continues in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, with four people killed on Wednesday according to the governor.
Azovstal: surrenders of 694 fighters in the last 24 hours, according to Moscow
After having fought for more than two months against the Russian soldiers, the Ukrainian soldiers entrenched in the Azovstal steelworks, in Mariupol, are gradually laying down their arms.
Thus, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, “694 fighters, including 29 wounded, have surrendered” in the past 24 hours.
Also according to the Russian authorities, nearly 959 Ukrainian soldiers, including 80 wounded, have surrendered since May 16.
For the moment, kyiv has not communicated on this information.
Ukraine assured last week that more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers - including 600 wounded - were in this huge steel complex, the last bastion of resistance in the city ravaged by Russian attacks.
According to the Ukrainian General Staff on Wednesday,
Finland and Sweden have submitted their applications to join NATO.
After several days of uncertainty and strong pressure exerted by Russia, Finland and Sweden finally submitted their applications for NATO membership on Wednesday.
"This is a historic moment at a critical time for our security," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who received membership applications submitted by ambassadors from two countries.
“We hope to quickly conclude the process.
(…) The security interests of all allies must be taken into account and we are determined to examine all issues and reach conclusions quickly,” he added.
Among the thirty members of the Alliance, Turkey has indicated that it is reluctant to integrate the two countries into NATO.
The Russians continue their advance to the east
As the war enters a "protracted phase" according to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiï Reznikov on Tuesday, fighting continues in the east of the country, with the death of seven people in recent hours in the Donetsk region, along the front line.
This Wednesday, four people were also killed in the Lugansk region, announced the governor of the region Serguiï Gaïdaï, who also indicated the discovery of two bodies in the village of Pryvillia.
Gaïdaï also specified that the Russian forces try a breakthrough near Popasna and in the direction of Severodonetsk, one of the big cities of the area under Ukrainian control, reporting "the intensification of the bombardments on the civil population".
The latter are also carrying out "offensives all along the line of contact" in the Donetsk region, and partially in that neighboring Lugansk, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense warned on Tuesday.
The Russian army is trying "to encircle and destroy the regrouping of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions", partly in the hands of pro-Russian separatists, confirmed Mr. Reznikov, who spoke on Tuesday before the ministers of European Union Defense and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
The Kremlin accuses kyiv of "total lack of will" to negotiate
The Kremlin on Wednesday accused Ukraine of "total unwillingness" to negotiate with Russia to end the ongoing conflict on Ukrainian soil since the start of the Russian offensive on February 24.
"The negotiations are not moving forward and we see a total lack of will on the part of the Ukrainian negotiators to continue this process," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the press, while the Ukrainian presidency had said the day before that the talks were suspended because of Russia.
3,752 civilians dead since the start of the war in Ukraine
According to the UN human rights agency, Russia's invasion of Ukraine since the end of February has killed 3,752 civilians and injured 4,062 others.
However, the agency believes the actual numbers to be considerably higher than the confirmed numbers.
"Most of the recorded casualties were caused by explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including heavy artillery bombardment and multiple rocket launcher systems," the human rights agency said. the UN.
