The official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, said that over the past day, 694 Ukrainian militants left the territory of Azovstal in Mariupol and surrendered, who were blocked at the plant by the Russian military.

“In Mariupol, militants of the nationalist Azov unit and Ukrainian servicemen blocked at the Azovstal plant continued to surrender,” he said.

According to the Ministry of Defense, 51 people were placed in the Novoazovsk hospital in the Donetsk People's Republic.

In total, according to the Ministry of Defense, since Monday, May 16, 959 people from among the forces controlled by Kyiv have surrendered.

“Yesterday (May 16. -

RT

) began the surrender of militants of the nationalist Azov unit and Ukrainian servicemen blocked at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol.

Over the past 24 hours, 265 militants laid down their arms and surrendered," the ministry said the day before.

On May 16, the Russian defense department also announced that it had reached an agreement with representatives of the Ukrainian military personnel on the removal of the wounded from Azovstal.

A silence regime was introduced in the area of ​​​​the enterprise and a humanitarian corridor was opened, along which the wounded Ukrainian soldiers were taken to a medical facility in Novoazovsk, where they receive the necessary assistance.

The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation stated that the department's investigators would interrogate the surrendered militants as part of the investigation of criminal cases on the crimes of the Ukrainian regime against the civilian population of Donbass.

“Russian investigators will identify the nationalists, check them for involvement in crimes committed against the civilian population, and the information obtained during interrogations will be compared with other data available in the materials of criminal cases,” the UK said.

At the same time, the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov commented on the attempts of the Kyiv authorities to present the exit of militants from Azovstal as an “evacuation”.

“Here the interpretation can only be unambiguous, and the definition is unambiguous.

Those military men who took refuge on the territory of Azovstal, they lay down their arms and surrender, ”the Kremlin spokesman emphasized.

The evacuation of civilians from the territory of the plant took place from 5 to 7 May.

As Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the National Defense Control Center of Russia, reported, during the operation since May 5, 51 people were saved - 18 men, 22 women, 11 children, including one person on May 7.

Mizintsev specified that the evacuation of civilians was carried out with the active participation of representatives of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross "thanks to the unprecedented measures taken by the leadership of the Russian Federation."

“The rescued civilians, accompanied by representatives of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, left for selected places of temporary accommodation,” he noted. 

Recall that the head of the Ministry of Defense Sergei Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin on April 21 about the liberation of Mariupol by Russian military personnel.

At the same time, he noted that the remnants of the formation of nationalists took refuge in the industrial zone of the Azovstal plant.

The minister drew attention to the fact that the Kyiv regime in eight years turned the city into a "refuge for radical Ukrainian nationalists."

“When liberating Mariupol, the Russian army and units of the people’s militia of the DPR took all measures to save the lives of civilians.

The servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the militants of the nationalist battalions were asked to lay down their arms," ​​Shoigu said.

Vladimir Putin stressed that it is necessary to think about saving the life and health of Russian soldiers and officers, and ordered to completely block the territory of Azovstal. 

“Invite once again to everyone who has not yet laid down their arms to do this.

The Russian side guarantees their lives and decent treatment in accordance with the relevant international legal acts.

Everyone who is injured will be provided with qualified medical assistance,” the President said.

On May 13, Dmitry Peskov also stated that the Ukrainian military could lay down their arms and leave the plant.

He added that those who lay down their arms "will be treated accordingly, all the wounded will be provided with the necessary medical care."