Ukrainian militants and troops entrenched in the Azovstal steel complex in Mariupol continue surrendering, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said on Wednesday, TASS reports.
"Militants from the Azov nationalist battalion and Ukrainian troops at the besieged Azovstal steelmaking complex in Mariupol continue surrendering," Konashenkov said. "Over the past day, 694 militants, including 29 wounded, surrendered."
He added that since May 16 the figure of the surrendered troops at the steelmaking complex reached 959, including 80 wounded with 51 of them requiring in-ward medical assistance at a hospital in Novoazovsk, in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Tuesday that 256 Ukrainian militants surrendered on May 17 from the territory of the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol, adding that there were 51 wounded militants among those captured.
According to the ministry, an agreement had been reached on Monday with the Ukrainian troops sealed off on the territory of the Azovstal steel plant on extracting wounded Ukrainian military personnel from the plant.
The ministry also said that a ceasefire was in effect in the area around the enterprise and an evacuation corridor had been opened for wounded Ukrainian servicemen, through which they were being delivered to a health institution in Novoazovsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) for receiving all required medical assistance.
The Ukrainian side earlier reported that 53 heavily wounded Ukrainian militants had been evacuated from Azovstal on May 16 to Novoazovsk controlled by the DPR forces and 211 Ukrainian troops had been taken to Yelenovka through a humanitarian corridor.
