More Ukrainian fighters surrender in Mariupol, Russia says

KYIV/MARIUPOL, Ukraine, May 19 (Reuters) – Moscow said nearly 700 more Ukrainian fighters had surrendered in Russian-held Mariupol as it shored up a key victory in the south, while the United States became the last Western country to reopen its embassy. in Kyiv.

Ukraine has ordered its garrison in Mariupol to withdraw, but the outcome of Europe’s bloodiest battle in decades remains unresolved.

Top commanders of the Ukrainian fighters who made their last stand at the Azovstal steelworks in the port city are still inside the plant, according to the leader of the pro-Russian separatists who control the area, Denis Pushilin, quoted by local news agency DNA. on Wednesday.

Ukrainian officials have refused to comment publicly on the fate of the fighters.

“The state is making maximum efforts to carry out the rescue of our service personnel,” military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzaynik told a news conference. “Any information to the public could jeopardize that process.”

Ukraine confirmed the surrender of more than 250 fighters on Tuesday, but did not say how many more were inside.

Russia said on Wednesday that a further 694 fighters had surrendered, bringing the total number to 959. Its Defense Ministry released videos of what it said were Ukrainian fighters receiving hospital treatment after surrendering in Azovstal.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the Red Cross and the United Nations participated in the talks, Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko said, but gave no details.

Mariupol is the largest city Russia has captured so far and allows Russian President Vladimir Putin to claim a rare victory in the invasion that began on February 24.

Moscow has focused on the southeast in recent offensives after pulling away from kyiv, where, in another sign of normalization, the United States said it had resumed operations at its embassy on Wednesday.

The US Senate has approved veteran diplomat Bridget Brink as ambassador to Ukraine, filling a post that has been vacant for three years. read more

Canada, Britain and others have also recently resumed embassy operations.

Moscow says it is involved in a “special military operation” to demilitarize and “denazify” its neighbor. The West and kyiv call that a false pretext for the invasion.

DONBAS ATTACKS

On the front lines, Russian forces continued their main offensive, trying to capture more territory in the eastern Donbas region that Moscow claims on behalf of the separatists.

Ukraine’s general staff said in a statement Thursday that Russia’s attacks were focused on the Donetsk region of the Donbas.

Around Slovyansk, north of Donetsk, Russian forces “suffered significant losses” around the Velyka Komyshuvakha settlement, it said.

Ukrainian forces shelled a border village in Russia’s western Kursk region at dawn Thursday, killing at least one civilian, regional governor Roman Starovoit said.

Reuters was unable to verify the reports.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said Ukrainian saboteurs had blown up railway tracks ahead of an armored train carrying Russian troops in the occupied southern city of Melitopol. read more

“The partisans succeeded, although they did not blow up the armored train,” he said in a video posted on social media, contradicting an earlier statement by Ukraine’s territorial defense force that the train had been blown up.

Arestovych said the incident showed the partisan movement was actively disrupting Russian forces.

NATO REQUEST

Finland and Sweden formally applied for NATO membership on Wednesday, a decision made in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine and the same type of expansion that Putin cited as a reason for attacking Ukraine.

The US ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, called for an accelerated accession process that could “be done in a couple of months”, but NATO member Turkey said its approval depended on the return of “terrorists”, namely, Kurdish militants and supporters of Fethullah Gulen.

Finland and Sweden were militarily non-aligned during the Cold War.

Although Russia had threatened to retaliate against the plans, Putin said on Monday that his NATO membership would not be a problem unless the alliance sends more troops or weapons there.

However, Russia could cut off gas supplies to Finland this week, Finland’s state-owned energy provider Gasum said.

The European Commission announced a €210 billion ($220 billion) plan for Europe to end its dependence on Russian oil, gas and coal by 2027. read more

Meanwhile, Google (GOOGL.O) became the latest major Western company to pull out of Russia, saying its local unit has filed for bankruptcy and was forced to close operations after its bank accounts were seized. read more

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Reporting from Natalia Zinets and Max Hunder in kyiv and a Reuters journalist in Mariupol; Additional reporting from Reuters bureaus; Written by Stephen Coates; Edited by Richard Pullin

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