The last fighters defending the Azubestal steel plant complex in the city of Mariupol have surrendered to the Russian army, the Russian Defense Ministry reported today (Saturday) in a short press release. Unofficial approvals for the report were also obtained from sources in Ukraine, after a few days in which more than two thousand fighters gradually surrendered defending the huge compound in the city located on the shores of a mossy sea in southern Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that a recent group of 531 soldiers, including the commanders of the Defense Forces, had surrendered to the Russian army, which now controls all parts of the city.
"The underground compound held by the gunmen is under the complete control of the Russian army forces," the Moscow Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Evacuation of civilians and wounded from the Azubstal factory in Mariupol // Photo: Reuters
The President of Ukraine, Vladimir Zalansky, informed his countrymen of the surrender in a speech broadcast on the country's television channels.
"Today our boys have received a clear signal that they can leave the factory compound and thus save their lives."
Last week, the president said his men were working on a prisoner exchange agreement with Russia in order to get back the surrendered fighters and declared that "Ukraine needs its heroes alive."
The fighting around the city of Mariupol began with the Russian army invading Ukraine on February 24.
Most of the city center was completely destroyed in the fighting and authorities in the city estimated that close to 20,000 civilians were killed in unarmed shelling in the Russian army, including a bombing of the theater building that served as an improvised refugee camp, where hundreds of civilians were killed.
In addition, experts estimate that thousands of Ukrainian soldiers and a similar number of Russian soldiers were killed in the brutal fighting over the city.
Dennis Malihin, a resident of the city who took part in the fighting and was rescued from the city about a month ago, told Israel Today: "Mariupol was a city in growth, it had a future of prosperity and preceded it.
Now everything is ruined.
My heart is broken, my house is turned into ruins. "
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