Moscow said nearly 700 more Ukrainian fighters had surrendered in Russian-held Mariupol as it shored up a key gain in the south, while the United States became the latest Western country to reopen its embassy in Kyiv.
Ukraine has ordered its garrison in Mariupol to stand down, but the ultimate outcome of Europe’s bloodiest battle for decades remains unresolved.
Top commanders of Ukrainian fighters who had made their last stand at the Azovstal steelworks in the port city were still inside the plant, according to the leader of pro-Russian separatists in control of the area, Denis Pushilin was quoted by local news agency DNA as saying on Wednesday.
Ukrainian officials have declined to comment publicly on the fate of the fighters.
“The state is making utmost efforts to carry out the rescue of our service personnel,” military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzaynik told a news conference. “Any information to the public could endanger that process.”
Russia’s TASS news agency on Thursday cited Pushilin as saying more than half of the Ukrainian fighters inside the steelworks had now left.
Ukraine and Russia have given conflicting accounts. Ukraine confirmed the surrender of more than 250 on Tuesday but did not say how many more were inside.
Russia said on Wednesday an additional 694 more fighters had surrendered, bringing the total number to 959. Its defence ministry posted videos of what it said were Ukrainian fighters receiving hospital treatment after surrendering at Azovstal.
Mariupol is the biggest city Russia has captured so far and allows Russian President Vladimir Putin to claim a rare victory in the invasion it began on Feb. 24.
Since then, Russian attacks have reduced cities and towns to ruins, thousands have been killed and more than six million people have fled to neighbouring countries.
Moscow has focused on the southeast in recent offensives after pulling away from Kyiv, where, in a further sign of normalisation, the United States said it had resumed operations at its embassy on Wednesday. Canada, Britain and others have also recently resumed embassy operations.
Moscow, which denies targeting civilians, says it is engaged in a “special military operation” to demilitarise and “denazify” its neighbour. The West and Kyiv call that a false pretext for invasion.
