256 Ukrainian Military Surrender at Azovstal Steelworks

On Tuesday, the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) territorial defense headquarters reported that 256 Ukrainian military —including 51 wounded personnel— surrendered from the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol city.

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The Russian Defense Ministry earlier announced that it agreed with the Ukrainian troops entrenched in the Azovstal steel plant to establish a ceasefire around the enterprise area and open an evacuation corridor for wounded military personnel.

Currently, 53 heavily injured Ukrainian militants are receiving medical assistance at DPR Novoazovsk city, and another 211 troops are being evacuated to Yelenovka city.

Previously, on April 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin handed down a directive calling off an assault on Azovstal and ordered to prevent more Ukrainian military from entering the industrial zone.

On May 4, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated that his country's army successfully achieved such an order and convinced the Ukrainian military who remained in this region to lay down their arms.

"Our troops did not storm the plant's territory but suppressed the attempts by the Ukrainian militants holed up there to assume firing positions," the Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov pointed out, adding that all surrendered will be treated following international law.

"We hope to establish negotiations to exchange these militaries for Russian war prisoners," Lower House President Viacheslav Volodin insisted. Nevertheless, he stressed that the Russian authorities would not hand over Nazi battalion Azov members, who shall be held accountable for war crimes.