After fierce battles...the Russian forces take control of the entire "Azovestal" plant

The spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, confirmed that the Russian Armed Forces had full control of all the facilities of the "Azovstal" in Mariupol, where the militants of the "Azov" battalion were holed up.

"The secret facilities of the project, in which militants of the extremist Ukrainian (Azov) battalion were hiding, have come under the control of the Russian armed forces," he said in an official statement issued by the Ministry of Defense.

He added, "Since May 16 of this year, during the operation, 2,439 Ukrainian Nazis from (Azov) and soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces laid down their weapons and surrendered," noting that "during Friday, the last group of them, estimated at 531 militants, surrendered."

He continued: "The so-called 'leader' of the Nazis, 'Azov', due to the desire of the residents of Mariupol to punish him for many crimes, was removed from the factory grounds in a special armored car."

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, informed President Vladimir Putin of the completion of the operation to completely liberate the plant and the city of Mariupol from Ukrainian militants.

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