A contingent of Ukrainian fighters who doggedly defended a steel mill in Mariupol for weeks have "fulfilled its combat mission," Ukrainian officials said, and efforts were underway to evacuate the last of the group.
“The Supreme Military Command ordered the commanders of the units stationed at Azovstal to save the lives of their personnel,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement. "Mariupol defenders are heroes of our time."
More than 260 Ukrainian troops were evacuated to areas controlled by Russian-backed separatists. The Kremlin called the exodus a mass surrender. Russian Defense Ministry video shows troops patting down and searching the fighters. Some were on stretchers as they were loaded onto the buses.
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Ukraine Minister for the Reintegration Irina Vereshchuk said a prisoner exchange will take place for the more than 50 wounded soldiers when their condition stabilizes. More than 200 other fighters were evacuated through a humanitarian corridor, she said. Hundreds of prisoners from both sides have been exchanged since the war began Feb. 24.
An unknown number of troops remained at the Azovstal steel plant that sprawls across 4 square miles. The plant has symbolized Ukraine's final holdout in the besieged city.
“The work to bring the guys home continues, and it requires delicacy and time,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
© Bernat Armangue, AP Images Oleksiy Polyakov, right, and Roman Voitko check the remains of a destroyed Russian helicopter in a field in the village of Malaya Rohan, Kharkiv region, Ukraine.
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Latest developments:
►The Vatican’s foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, arrives in Kyiv on Wednesday for a meeting Friday with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. The Vatican is trying to salvage newly improved ties with the Russian Orthodox Church while offering support to the “martyred” Ukrainian faithful.
►After over 200 years as a nonaligned nation, Sweden will join neighboring Finland in applying for membership in NATO. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the move would make little difference since both countries have been aligned with NATO – but warned that “the expansion of military infrastructure onto this territory will of course give rise to our reaction in response.”