An agreement on the eviction of the besieged steel factory was reached on Monday after international mediation. After the first military personnel left the complex, Ukraine hinted that an exchange with Russian POWs was in the works. Russia’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Dmitri Polyansky, now denies this. “The Azov Nazis have surrendered unconditionally.”
According to the Russians, members of the Azov battalion, which defended the factory together with marines, have far-right sympathies. Kyiv denies that. The unit was founded years ago by right-wing militia members, but is said to have undergone a major change. It is now part of the National Guard.
Where Russia is sowing uncertainty about a prisoner exchange, the Ukrainian State Secretary for Defense, Hanna Malyar, says that negotiations are underway with Moscow. According to Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk, the government especially wants to release the wounded soldiers as soon as their health situation has improved. Among the 264 soldiers that Russia deported to an area controlled by pro-Russian separatists on Monday, 53 were wounded.
Old Penal Colony
Figures released by the Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday would show that almost all Ukrainian soldiers have left the Azovstal factory. In the past 24 hours alone, there were 694. Before the evacuation began on Monday, the number of soldiers in the factory was estimated at 600 to 1,000.
But because the main commanders had not come out on Wednesday, Russia was still unable to officially end the battle of Mariupol.
The wounded soldiers – 80 according to Russian figures – were taken to a hospital in the town of Novoazovsk, east of Mariupol. The rest, according to various reports, have been detained in a prison near Donetsk. This increases the concerns in Ukraine as to whether they are being treated well and what to expect.
Interrogate
The Kremlin stressed on Tuesday that there is no reason for concern. President Vladimir Putin assures that Russia will treat Ukrainians according to international law. A commission of inquiry does want to question the soldiers, the Russian news agency Tass reported. This is because of an investigation into ‘crimes committed by the Ukrainian regime’.
Russian parliamentarians on Tuesday called for Ukrainian soldiers to be tried for war crimes. They want to table a resolution calling on the government to refrain from a prisoner swap with Kyiv.
The pressure on Moscow is also increasing on social media not to let the Ukrainian soldiers go free. Several Russian Telegram channels have strongly criticized the government’s decision to negotiate with Kyiv to end the battle at Azovstal. The Russian army has intensified fighting at the factory in recent weeks to break the resistance.