On Saturday, the Russian defence ministry announced that it had evacuated the entire area of Mariupol from Ukrainian forces. It also stated that only a handful of fighters remained at the Azovstal steelworks where there were many clashes.
The ministry stated in an online posting that more than 4,000 people had been killed by the Ukrainian forces in the port city under siege, RIA reported.
Russian forces have been trying to seize the port for several weeks, and it is located on the Sea of Azov. This body of water lies to the northeast of Black Sea.
The ministry stated that “the entire urban area of Mariupol was cleared” and that remnants of the Ukrainian group were currently blocked on the Azovstal metalurgical plant’s territory.
Their only hope of saving their lives is to surrender and voluntarily give up their arms.
The Russian ministry stated that 1,464 Ukrainian soldiers had surrendered to them so far, but Kyiv did not immediately respond.
Moscow claimed that Ukraine suffered 23,367 “irretrievable” losses, but it did not offer any evidence or say if this counted only the victims of death or those who were also injured.
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