RUSSIA’S Defence Ministry said today 265 Ukrainian soldiers, including several dozen wounded, surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine’s port city of Mariupol.

“Over the past 24 hours, 265 militants laid down their arms and surrendered, including 51 heavily wounded,” the ministry said in a briefing. 

It added that those in need of medical care were transferred to a hospital in the town of Novoazovsk. 

Last month Moscow claimed control of Mariupol after a weeks-long siege, but hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers remained holed up in underground tunnels beneath the huge Azovstal industrial zone, blocked by Russian troops.

Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said late yesterday that 264 Ukrainian fighters were evacuated to Russia-controlled territory, including 53 “heavily wounded”.

Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar said they would be subject to an “exchange procedure”. – AFP, May 17, 2022.