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Live: Almost a thousand soldiers from Azovstal steelworks have surrendered since Monday, says Moscow

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With the defence of Mariupol appearing to be coming to an end, and close to a thousand Ukrainian soldiers having surrendered to Russian forces since Monday, according to Moscow, the fate of those defenders is now unclear. Kyiv wants to trade them, but some in Moscow are taking a harder line.

Ukrainian servicemen sit in a bus after they were evacuated from the besieged Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant, Tuesday, May 17, 2022.
Ukrainian servicemen sit in a bus after they were evacuated from the besieged Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant,
Tuesday, May 17, 2022.
  –   Copyright  Alexei Alexandrov/Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

With the defence of Mariupol appearing to be coming to an end, and close to a thousand Ukrainian soldiers having surrendered to Russian forces since Monday, according to Moscow, the fate of those defenders is now unclear. Kyiv wants to trade them, but some in Moscow are taking a harder line.

Meanwhile, the first war crimes trial since Moscow’s invasion, against a Russian soldier accused of killing an unarmed civilian, is set to get underway in Kyiv later today. The trial could be the first of many.

Read our live coverage below for more of the key events as they developed throughout Wednesday.

13:00

  • Moscow claims that close to a thousand soldiers from Azovstal steelworks have surrendered since Monday. Their fate is now uncertain.

  • The fall of Mariupol appears to be at hand as Ukraine is moving to abandon the sprawling steel plant where its soldiers have held out under relentless bombardment for the last few months.

  • The first war crimes trial since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, against a Russian soldier accused of killing an unarmed civilian, gets underway in Kyiv today.

  • Finland and Sweden formally submit their applications to join the NATO military alliance.

  • Austria will retain its military neutral status, says the country’s foreign minister.

  • Meanwhile, the US has launched a programme to research, document and publicise potential war crimes committed by Russian troops in Ukraine.

  • Russia is holding 3,000 civilians in a former penal colony, says Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman.

  • Human Rights Watch accuses Russia of summary executions, torture and other abuses during their occupation of areas around Kyiv and Chernihiv early in the conflict.

13:41

Top-ranking commanders remain in Azovstal, says pro-Russian leader

Top-ranking Ukrainian commanders have not yet surrendered from the labyrinth of bunkers and tunnels below the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol, the leader of the Russian-backed separatist region of Donetsk said on Wednesday.

As the most devastating siege in Russia’s invasion moves towards a finale, nearly 1,000 Ukrainian fighters who barricaded themselves into the tunnels have so far given themselves up to Russian and pro-Russian forces since Monday.

Russia’s defence ministry said that in the past day 694 Ukrainian fighters – including members of the Azov regiment – had surrendered, including 29 wounded.

It was unclear if the top commanders would leave the plant, or possibly even fight a last mortal battle with the Russian forces they regard as occupiers of their motherland.

“There are no commanders of the highest level (among those who surrendered) – they have not left,” said Denis Pushilin, head of the breakaway Donetsk People’s Republic which was officially recognised by President Vladimir Putin just three days before the invasion of Ukraine.

12:58

Source:euronews.com