Mariupol Steelworks Ukrainian Army “End Combat Mission”

At Mariupol, a strategic point in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian troops have announced that they have completed their combat missions at a steel mill that was besieged by Russian troops and urged the Ukrainian side to surrender.

Some Russian media have reported that Russian troops will soon take control of the steelworks.

In Ukraine, fierce offenses and defenses continued in the eastern part where Russian troops were trying to seize, and at the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol, which was a key point, the resistance of Ukrainian troops continued as Russian troops surrounded and repeatedly forced to surrender.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Army announced on the morning of the 17th of Japan time that it had completed the combat mission of the troops that had remained at the steelworks.

Ukrainian President Zelensky released a video on the 16th, revealing that "an operation to save Mariupol's soldiers has begun" about the steelworks.

"Some of the soldiers are seriously injured. I want to emphasize that the heroes need to live above all else," he said, urgently evacuating the soldiers.

Ukrainian Under Secretary of Defense Mallar said on the 16th, "53 seriously injured people were taken from the Azovstal ironworks to medical facilities, and 211 people were taken through evacuation routes." It also suggested that exchanges with prisoners of war could take place.

According to Under Secretary of Defense Mallar, the seriously injured soldiers were transported to a medical facility on the side of pro-Russian militants in eastern Donetsk Oblast.

Meanwhile, Mariupol's mayor Boychenko said in an online interview with NHK on the 16th, "About 90% of Mariupol's are occupied by Russian troops, and more than 100,000 citizens are still left behind." He said that the evacuation of many citizens was still not progressing and asked the international community for cooperation.

Regarding the situation surrounding the steelworks, the Russian newspaper "Izvestia" said on the 17th that "the surrender of the Ukrainian side was seen as a matter of time after the Russian troops surely surrounded the steelworks". It conveys the view that it will be suppressed soon.