JAKARTA - Military authorities plan to evacuate the remaining troops at the Azovstal steel mill, Mariupol, as they begin to surrender after holding out for 82 days, marking the end of Europe's bloodiest fighting in decades.
Reuters saw the buses leave the huge Azovstal steel plant overnight and five of them arrived in the Russian-held city of Novoazovsk. In one, marked with the Latin letter 'Z' which has become a symbol of the Russian offensive, the wounded lie on stretchers as high as three beds. A man was pushed out, his head wrapped in thick bandages.
Video released by Russia's Ministry of Defense shows fighters leaving the factory, some being carried on stretchers, others with their hands raised for a search by Russian forces.
Russia said 256 Ukrainian fighters had "laid down their weapons and surrendered", including 51 seriously injured. Meanwhile, Ukraine said 264 soldiers, including 53 wounded, had left the metalworks, and efforts were underway to evacuate others still inside.
"The Mariupol garrison has fulfilled its combat mission," the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement.
"The supreme military command ordered the commanders of units stationed in Azovstal to save the lives of personnel. Mariupol defenders are heroes of our time."
The surrender appears to mark the end of the battle for Mariupol, in which Ukraine believes tens of thousands of people died under Russian bombardment and siege for months.
The city now lies in ruins. Complete control of Mariupol was Russia's biggest victory in the war, giving Moscow complete control over the coast of the Sea of Azov and the unbroken stretch of eastern and southern Ukraine the size of Greece.
But it comes as Russia's campaign has faltered elsewhere, with its troops around the northeastern city of Kharkiv recently retreating at their fastest pace since they were driven from the north and areas around Kyiv in late March.
Authorities on both sides have offered little clue as to the eventual fate of Mariupol's last defender, with Ukrainian officials discussing the prospect of some form of swap for Russian prisoners but giving no details.
"We hope we can save the lives of our people," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his morning address.
"There are some seriously injured among them. They are receiving treatment. Ukraine needs its Ukrainian heroes alive."
In a statement released late Monday, the Azov Regiment, a Ukrainian unit holding on to steel mills, said it had achieved its goal during the 82 days of resistance by allowing Ukraine to defend the entire country.
"In order to save lives, the entire Mariupol garrison applies the approved decision of the Supreme Military Command and expects the support of the Ukrainian people," wrote the Azov Regiment in a social media post.
In the accompanying video, one of the unit's senior commanders, Denys Prokopenko, called the decision to save the lives of his men the "highest level surveillance force".
Separately, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday Ukrainian fighters surrendering at the Azovstal steel plant would be treated "according to international standards", with Russian President Vladimir Putin having guaranteed this.
Russia's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that more than 250 Ukrainian fighters hiding in the Azovstal Mariupol steel plant had surrendered after weeks of siege.
Mariupol is the biggest city Russia has captured since the February 24 invasion, giving Moscow a clear victory for the first time in months, during which its campaign in Ukraine has been largely a military disaster against an underestimated foe.
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