The surrender is the closing chapter of one of the most gripping episodes in Russia’s war on Ukraine
in eastern Ukraine. Within a week of their invasion on February 24th, Russian forces besieged Mariupol as part of their drive to establish a land bridge between Crimea and Donbas, thereby cutting Ukraine off from the Azov sea. Mariupol was defended by Ukrainian marines and the Azov battalion, a semi-independent unit of nationalist volunteers. But by April 22nd they had lost control of the city and been forced inside the Azovstal plant.
Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, had given the fighters approval to surrender if the military situation became hopeless. In the past week several of their wives had appealed to world leaders to negotiate a way out for their husbands. But the Ukrainian and Russian governments released no details on how the fighters’ release was agreed upon.
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