KYIV: More than 1000 Ukrainian soldiers including women surrendered before Russian forces in the southeastern port city of Mariupol in the besieged former Soviet state, Russia said on Wednesday.
Out of the 1000 troops, 162 personnel are officers and 47 female service members, said Russian Defence Ministry Spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov, according to Russian news agency TASS.
According to the report, the Ukrainian forces surrendered after an operation conducted by Russian forces and “militia units of Donetsk” in the region. The injured soldiers are taken to Mariupol city hospital.
Without additional weaponry, this war will become an endless bloodbath, spreading misery, suffering, and destruction. Mariupol, Bucha, Kramatorsk – the list will be continued. Nobody will stop Russia except Ukraine with Heavy Weapons. #ArmUkraineNow pic.twitter.com/miSOL5zvuA
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) April 13, 2022
Ukraine has to comment on the mass surrender which comes after more than one and half months of fighting between Ukraine and Russia.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities have claimed that Russia has lost more than 19,800 troops, 158 planes, 143 helicopters, 739 tanks, and 1954 armoured personnel carriers since it launched what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, as per The Kyiv Independent.