Russia claims win in Mariupol after Azovstal plant 'fully liberated'

Russia on Friday (May 20) claimed to have captured the strategic port city of Mariupol in Ukraine as the last set of troops hauled up in the Azovstal steel plant laid down their arms.

Russian Defence Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the completion of the operation and the “complete liberation” of the plant and Mariupol city from Ukraine.

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In an official statement, the Russian defence ministry said, “Azovstal plant in Mariupol is fully liberated.”

“The underground facilities of the enterprise, where the militants had been hiding, have come under full control of the Russian Armed Forces,” it added.

According to Russia, “Since May 16, a total of 2,439 Azov Nazis and AFU servicemen blocked inside the plant have laid down their arms and surrendered during the operation. Today (May 20), the last group of 531 militants surrendered.”

Further it stated, “The so-called ‘commander’ of the Azov Nazis, due to the hatred of Mariupol residents and the desire of the townspeople to massacre him for his numerous atrocities, was removed from the territory of the plant in a special armoured vehicle.”

Earlier, a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it has registered hundreds of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) this week from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol.

The ICRC started on Tuesday (May 17) to register combatants leaving the Azovstal plant, including the wounded, at the request of the parties. The operation continued Wednesday and was still ongoing Thursday. The ICRC is not transporting POWs to the places where they are held, it said.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine started on February 24, and the capturing of Mariupol is seen as “major victory” for Putin.