Russia claims mass surrender of Ukrainian marines dug in at Mariupol

RT
Wed, 13 Apr 2022 20:44 UTC

© Russian Ministry of Defense/Pedro José Cama/Twitter

The Russian Ministry of Defense released a video of the surrender of 1,000 Ukrainian marines, besieged in Mariupol (South Ukraine), to the troops of the Donetsk People's Republic at the Ilich metallurgical plant. There are many wounded who were given necessary medical assistance

More than 1,000 service members of Ukraine's 36th Marines Brigade have surrendered in the port city of Mariupol, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Wednesday during a daily briefing.

According to a Russian military report, the troops laid down their arms at the Illich Steel and Iron Works, a giant metal mill they were using as a stronghold against Moscow's forces.

A total of 1,026 service members, including 162 officers, were among the captives, ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said. He said 47 of the soldiers were female. Russian medics provided first aid to 151 injured captives before moving them to a local hospital, the official said.

The report was disputed by Ukrainian officials. Presidential adviser Alexey Arestovich claimed on social media that the unit had performed a "difficult and very risky maneuver" and joined forces with the Azov Battalion, the Ukrainian national guard unit holding position at a different location in Mariupol. This "gave the 36th a second chance" and significantly boosted the defensive capabilities of Kiev's forces in the city, he said.

The reports of a large number of Ukrainian troops laying down arms in Mariupol began to emerge on Tuesday. These were supported by footage from war correspondents on the ground, showing what appears to be groups of people wearing military uniforms in captivity.

The claimed mass surrender followed a report by the Russian Defense Ministry, which said around 100 Ukrainian marines had made an attempt to break out from the factory.

According to the Russian claims, about half of the Ukrainian military personnel involved were killed when their motorcade was attacked by artillery and warplanes, while the rest were captured. Ukrainian sources told the media on Tuesday that the breakout was a success and resulted in the troops reaching Azov's positions.

A desperate message was posted on the 36th Brigade's social media channels on Monday. The text claimed the unit had been failed by the Ukrainian military leadership, who left the soldiers to fight and die without any assistance despite opportunities to do so.

"For over a month the marines fought with no supplies of ammo, without food, without water, pretty much drinking from puddles, and died in droves," the message read. "Our wise generals are telling us to capture ammo from the enemy."

Mariupol has seen some of the most intense fighting since Russia launched its offensive in Ukraine. The new case of mass surrender reported by the Russian ministry would be the largest single instance of Ukrainian forces laying down their arms since the start of the conflict.

Moscow attacked its neighbor in late February, following Ukraine's failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements signed in 2014, and Russia's eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German and French brokered Minsk Protocol was designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.

Russia has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.

Comment: SouthFront's latest sitrep on Mariupol (click map for larger image):

© SouthFront.org

Donbass Insider reports:

On 12 April 2022, more than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers from the 36th Marine Infantry Brigade of the AFU (Ukrainian Armed Forces) surrendered to the armed forces of Russia and the DPR (Donetsk People's Republic) in Mariupol after their unsuccessful attempt to break the encirclement of the Ilyich factory where they were located.

On the night of 11-12 April 2022, a group of about 100 Ukrainian soldiers from the 36th brigade, who were trapped in the Ilyich factory, tried to break through the encirclement in armored vehicles to escape from Mariupol to the north.

The attempt was a failure. More than half of the Ukrainian soldiers were killed, 42 were taken prisoner, and three tanks, five infantry fighting vehicles and seven other vehicles were destroyed. The task of this group was to clear the road so that the rest of the unit could evacuate the town.

As a result of this failure, 1,160 Ukrainian soldiers of the 36th brigade (including 176 officers and 47 women), who were in the Ilyich factory in Mariupol, surrendered to the Russian and DPR armed forces. The following night, another 134 Ukrainian soldiers, including 14 officers, who were still in Mariupol also surrendered.

See the videos (in Russian) filmed by the DPR Ministry of Interior:

Together with the hundred or so Ukrainian soldiers who had surrendered earlier, a total of more than 1,500 men were taken prisoner by the Russian and DPR armed forces in Mariupol.

Information from the surrendered Ukrainian soldiers indicates that they were ordered by their command to make this breakthrough with the promise that reinforcements would come to meet them at the village of Zatchatovka (near Volnovakha). This village has been under DPR control for several weeks! Clearly, the command of the 36th brigade of the AFU lied to its soldiers, deliberately sending them to the scrap heap.

If the armed forces of Russia and the DPR behaved like some of those fighting on the Ukrainian side (who torture and execute the Russian soldiers they capture), this order to break the encirclement of Mariupol would have been a single ticket to death for those Ukrainian soldiers.

But they are lucky that Russian and DPR soldiers behave more humanely. The prisoners interviewed confirmed that they were treated well, and those who needed medical attention were treated.

The day after this massive surrender, we were able to return to Mariupol, and among other things to the city centre, near the dramatic theatre, which we were able to enter.

See the report filmed in Marioupol :

Following the surrender of the Ukrainian soldiers of the 36th brigade, all that remained in Mariupol were the soldiers of the neo-Nazi Azov regiment and the other fighters who were with them, entrenched in the Azovstal factory.

Contrary to what Alexei Arestovitch, Volodymyr Zelensky's adviser, wrote, the soldiers of the 36th brigade had not succeeded at all in breaking the encirclement, nor in joining the soldiers of the neo-Nazi Azov regiment in Azovstal. The latter are now completely alone and surrounded, with no hope of escape.

While we were in the dramatic theatre of Mariupol, the exchange of fire in the Azovstal area, which is only 2 km away, was clearly audible.