Ukrainian troops evacuate Mariupol and cede control to Russia

KYIV/NOVOAZOVSK, Ukraine, May 17 (Reuters) – Ukraine’s military said on Tuesday it was working to evacuate all remaining troops from its last stronghold in the besieged port of Mariupol, ceding control of the city to Russia after months of bombing

The evacuation of hundreds of fighters, many wounded, to Russian-held cities likely marked the end of the longest and bloodiest battle of the Ukraine war and a significant defeat for Ukraine. Mariupol now lies in ruins after a Russian siege that Ukraine says killed tens of thousands of people in the city.

With the rest of Mariupol firmly in Russian hands, hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians had holed up under the city’s Azovstal steel mill. Civilians inside have been evacuated in recent weeks, and more than 260 soldiers, some of them wounded, left the plant for Russian-controlled areas on Monday night.

“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 the units stationed in Azovstal to save the lives of the personnel… The defenders of Mariupol are the heroes of our time,” he added.

Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar said 53 wounded soldiers from the steelworks were taken to a hospital in the Russian-controlled city of Novoazovsk, some 32 kilometers (20 miles) to the east, while another 211 people were taken. to the city of Olenivka. in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatists.

All evacuees will be subject to a possible prisoner swap with Russia, it added.

Around 600 soldiers are believed to have been inside the steel plant. Ukraine’s military said efforts were underway to evacuate those still inside.

“We hope we can save the lives of our boys,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a morning speech. “There are serious injuries among them. They are getting attention. Ukraine needs living Ukrainian heroes.”

Reuters saw five buses carrying troops from Azovstal arrive in Novoazovsk on Monday night. In one, marked with a Z like many Russian military vehicles in Ukraine, the men were stacked on stretchers in three levels. One man was wheeled out, his head tightly wrapped in thick bandages.

LVIV EXPLOSIONS, FIGHT WITH KHARKIV

Moscow calls its nearly three-month invasion a “special military operation” to rid Ukraine of fascists, a claim kyiv and its Western allies say is an unfounded pretext for an unprovoked war.

Russia’s invading forces have met apparent setbacks, with troops forced to leave the north and the outskirts of kyiv at the end of March. A Ukrainian counterattack in recent days has pushed Russian forces out of the area near Kharkiv, the largest city in the east.

Ukraine’s general staff said Russian forces were reinforcing and preparing to renew their offensive near Slovyansk and Drobysheve, southeast of the strategic city of Izyum, after suffering losses elsewhere.

Areas around Kyiv and the western city of Lviv, near the Polish border, have continued to come under Russian attack. A series of explosions hit Lviv early Tuesday, a Reuters witness said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

On Monday, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said troops had advanced to the Russian border, some 40 kilometers north of Kharkiv.

Successes near Kharkiv could allow Ukraine to attack supply lines for Russia’s main offensive, pushing further south into the Donbas region, where Moscow has been launching massive attacks for a month.

A village in Russia’s western Kursk province, on the border with Ukraine, was attacked by Ukraine on Tuesday, regional governor Roman Starovoit said. Three houses and a school were attacked but no one was injured, he said.

Russian border guards returned fire to quell large-caliber weapons fire in the border village of Alekseyevka, Starovoit wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

PUTIN’S RISE ON NATO

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Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to back down on Monday from threats of retaliation against Sweden and Finland for announcing plans to join the US-led NATO military alliance.

“As far as expansion is concerned, including new members Finland and Sweden, Russia has no problems with these states, none. And, in this regard, there is no immediate threat to Russia of an expansion to include these countries,” he said. Putin. read more

The comments appeared to mark a major shift in rhetoric, after years of presenting NATO enlargement as a direct threat to Russia’s security, even citing it as a justification for invading Ukraine.

Putin said the United States was using NATO enlargement in an “aggressive” way to aggravate an already difficult global security situation, and that Russia would respond if the alliance advanced with weapons or troops.

“The expansion of the military infrastructure on this territory would certainly provoke our response,” Putin said.

Finland and Sweden, both non-aligned during the Cold War, say they now want the protection offered by the NATO treaty, under which an attack on any member is an attack on all.

However, Finland and Sweden’s plans were thwarted when the president of NATO member Turkey said he would not approve either offer. read more

Information from Natalia Zinets in kyiv and a Reuters journalist in Novoazovsk; Additional reporting from Reuters bureaus; Written by Rami Ayyub and Lincoln Feast; Edited by Stephen Coates

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