Ukraine crisis | Who were Mariupol's last defenders?
The Hindu
The Ukrainian forces who made a determined last stand in a Mariupol steel mill against Russian troops were a mixture of seasoned soldiers, border guards, a controversial national guard regiment and volunteers who took up arms in the weeks before Russia’s invasion
The Ukrainian forces who made a determined last stand in a Mariupol steel mill against Russian troops were a mixture of seasoned soldiers, border guards, a controversial national guard regiment and volunteers who took up arms in the weeks before Russia’s invasion.
As Russia announced it had completed its takeover of Mariupol with the surrender of the fighters who served as the final obstacle, Ukraine's government did not confirm the city's fall. Earlier in the week, Ukrainian officials said its combantants in the Azovstal steel plant had completed their mission and were being evacuated, describing them as heroes who had fulfilled a grueling task.
Here's a look at these Ukrainian forces, who were taken prisoner by the Russians as they left the plant, and what they accomplished:
Russia’s Defense Ministry said a total of 2,439 Ukrainian fighters from the steelworks had surrendered since Monday, including over 500 on Friday, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti.
The fighters who held out at Azovstal, for much of the nearly three-month siege of Mariupol with Ukrainian civilians who sought safety in the plant's underground bunkers and tunnels, came from a variety of different military and law enforcement units, according to Ukrainian officials.
There was the Azov Regiment, which is part of Ukraine's National Guard; the 36th Special Marine Brigade of Ukraine's Naval Forces and the 12th brigade of the National Guard. Border guards, police officers, and territorial defense squads formed shortly before the war supplemented their ranks.
The bulk of these forces were deployed to defend Mariupol, home to a stategically located port, at the start of the Russian invasion. Marines from the 36th brigade held the port and another large plant in Mariupol for more than a month, until they ran out of supplies and ammunition.
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