Regime media on Monday uniformly tried to spin the mass surrender of hundreds of Azov Battalion fighters and other Ukrainian soldiers holed up in Mariupol's Azovstal steel factory as anything but a surrender.
(Article by Chris Menahan republished from InformationLiberation.com)
The New York Times, CNN, AP and others all chose to refer to the mass surrender as an "evacuation" and an "end" to their "combat mission."
Breaking News: Ukraine ended its “combat mission” in Mariupol and said fighters were being evacuated, signaling that the battle at a steel plant was over. https://t.co/XWTQLrzzLG
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 16, 2022
Ukrainian forces say they have ended their "combat mission" in besieged Mariupol, as hundreds are evacuated from the Azovstal steel plant. https://t.co/fN5qor3oocpic.twitter.com/h3x7jSvS1Y
— CNN International (@cnni) May 16, 2022
Azovstal commander says obeys order to save lives https://t.co/zGgXfFpoQrpic.twitter.com/TFIOIjDfNV
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 16, 2022
A Ukrainian military official said more than 260 fighters, including some who are badly wounded, were evacuated from a steel plant in the city of Mariupol and taken to areas under Russia's control. https://t.co/98GmVxjWCR
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 16, 2022
Dozens of badly-wounded Ukrainian soldiers have arrived in Novoazovsk after being evacuated from Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol https://t.co/cAP8Kq33Xs
— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 17, 2022
Russia-Ukraine war: bloodiest battle ends as Ukrainian fighters evacuated from Mariupol steel plant – live https://t.co/ryPykwoxYc
— The Guardian (@guardian) May 17, 2022
Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers have been evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. The evacuation was an arrangement that Ukrainian authorities said was made with the help of the U.N. and other agencies.https://t.co/xS3PpmMtAv
— NPR (@NPR) May 17, 2022
Hundreds of Ukrainian fighters, trapped for more than two months in Mariupol's Azovstal steelworks, evacuatedhttps://t.co/zz3ZzV0AOnpic.twitter.com/qG52NRxk88
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 17, 2022
????Azovstal siege appears to end.
Denys Prokopenko, the commander of Azov special regiment, said on May 16 that Ukrainian soldiers at Azovstal have "fulfilled their orders" and "were distracting the Russian army for 82 days."
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 16, 2022
The Azov Battalion two months ago took a ton of civilians hostage and used them as human shields while holing themselves up in the tunnels under the Azovstal steel factory.
Putin last month ordered Russian forces not to go into the plant and instead close it off and wait them out. Arraignments were made for Azov's civilian human shields to be evacuated earlier this month and now Azov's forces themselves were also given safe harbor to evacuate after accepting Russia's terms of surrender.
Whereas Azov and other Ukrainian military soldiers viciously tortured Russian POWs and filmed themselves calling up and mocking the families of Russian soldiers killed in action, Russia is allowing these Azov forces to surrender peacefully. Dozens of soldiers were reportedly taken to a hospital in Russia-controlled Novoazovsk for medical treatment.
"Russian sources have estimated that about 2,200 people have been trapped in the basements of the huge Azovstal complex. The site is 11 square kilometers long and its subterranean sections are designed to withstand a nuclear attack," RT reported.
"According to the deputy minister of defense of Ukraine, Anna Malyar, and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, those who surrender will be exchanged for Russian prisoners of war taken captive by Kiev. However, the terms of the exchange have not yet been decided," RT continued. "Moscow has not yet made any public statements about an exchange."
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