The Russian army on Friday said it had “totally liberated” the Azovstal steelworks in the strategic port city of Mariupol in southeast Ukraine after the last Ukrainian soldiers inside surrendered.
“Since May 16, 2,439 Nazis from the Azov (regiment) and Ukrainian troops blocked in the factory have surrendered,” defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
“Today, May 20, the last group of 531 fighters gave themselves up.”
He added that Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had informed president Vladimir Putin of “the end of the operation and the complete liberation of the (Azovstal) industrial complex and the city of Mariupol”.
Konashenkov said the leader of the Azov regiment at the site had surrendered and was evacuated from the factory “in a special armoured vehicle” to protect him from “the hatred of Mariupol residents (for him) and their desire to punish him”.
The Azov regiment is a former far-right battalion turned National Guard unit renowned for the mettle of its fighters.
“The underground installations of the factory, where the fighters were hiding, have come under complete control of Russian forces,” Konashenkov added.
bur/ah/pvh
Less time to read?
Try Quickreads
-
US lawmakers seek FBI probe into Palestinian journalist’s death
More than 50 US lawmakers on Friday called on the FBI to investigate the killing in the West Bank of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, despite Israeli promises of a probe. The 57 House members, largely left-leaning Democrats and led by Representative Andre Carson, noted that Abu Akleh held US citizenship and pointed to divergent accounts on how she died on May 11.
-
Covid restrictions for migrants at US border can not end yet, judge rules
A federal judge in Louisiana on Friday blocked US authorities from lifting Covid-19 restrictions that empower agents at the US-Mexico border to turn back migrants without giving them a chance to seek asylum. Health authorities at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at the time it was needed to curb the spread of the coronavirus in crowded border facilities.
-
US House Speaker Pelosi barred from Catholic communion over abortion stance
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can no longer take communion because she supports abortion rights and also publicly invokes her Catholic faith, the archbishop of San Francisco said in a letter released on Friday. Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone decision comes after the leak earlier this month of a draft Supreme Court opinion indicating the top court would strike down the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
-
When Indian mangoes returned to the United States
For a city used to evening salons marked by wine and cheese, laced with intense discussions on the latest geopolitical twist, an air of informality, replete with optimism and laughter, marked the mood at the India House — the official residence of the Indian ambassador to the United States (US) — on Thursday. The occasion: Indian mangoes returned to America for the first time since the pandemic.
-
Ukraine orders end to defence of Mariupol
Ukraine on Friday ordered its last troops holed up in Mariupol’s besieged Azovstal steelworks to lay down their arms after nearly three months of desperate resistance against a ferocious Russian assault. The first post-invasion trial of a Russian soldier for war crimes neared its climax in Kyiv, after 21-year-old sergeant Vadim Shishimarin admitted to killing an unarmed civilian early in the offensive. The verdict is due on Monday.