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The Azov Steelworks on May 20: industrial zone now apparently under Russian control
Photo: ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO / REUTERS
After weeks of resistance, the Azov steelworks in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol is under Russian control, according to information from Moscow.
All fighters surrendered, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Friday evening.
A total of 2,439 Ukrainian soldiers have been taken prisoner by the Russians since May 16.
The plant was the last piece of the strategically important city in south-eastern Ukraine that had not yet been completely under Russian control.
Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu himself reported to President Vladimir Putin about the "complete liberation of the plant and the city of Mariupol," Konashenkov said.
The deployment of Russian soldiers has now been completed.
Initially, there was no confirmation from the Ukrainian side.
Russian troops had already begun the siege of Mariupol shortly after invading Ukraine at the end of February.
Pictures of a destroyed maternity clinic went around the world.
For weeks, civilians held out in cellars, and there was even a lack of drinking water in the embattled city.
Only after many failed attempts were civilians evacuated from the city.
Most recently, the Russian attacks were concentrated on the steelworks, in whose extensive cellars the last defenders of the city were holed up.
The last group of 531 fighters were taken prisoner on Friday, the ministry said.
The industrial zone had been blocked by Russian troops since April 21.
The commander of the Azov regiment was taken away in a special armored vehicle.
Hours earlier, the remaining Ukrainian defenders of the steelworks on the Sea of Azov had announced for the first time that their army command had ordered them to stop defending the city.
This was announced by the commander of the controversial national guard regiment "Azov", Denys Prokopenko.
This should protect the life and health of the soldiers in the garrison.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – in a television interview taped before the Russian announcement of the capture – blamed the West for the Ukrainians' withdrawal from the plant.
He has repeatedly called on Western leaders to supply his country with "appropriate weapons" - "so that we can reach Mariupol to liberate these people."
The first 264 soldiers surrendered on Monday, including more than 50 seriously injured.
According to Russian information, more were taken into captivity on Thursday.
The commanders and some fighters had held the position until the end.
Altogether it was always assumed that there were around 2,500 Ukrainian fighters in Moscow.
The government in Kyiv, on the other hand, had given the number as only 1,000.
To the end, the Ukrainian leadership spoke of a "rescue operation" instead of a capitulation and held out the prospect of an imminent exchange of prisoners with Russia.
The Azov fighters had repeatedly asked for help from the Ukrainian armed forces.
Russia has been waging a war of aggression against its Ukrainian neighbor for almost three months.
With Mariupol, the Russian forces now control the entire coast of the Sea of Azov.
bbr/dpa