Russia’s Defense Ministry says more than 1,000 Ukrainian marines have surrendered to Russian forces in the besieged port of Mariupol, a claim Ukrainian officials said they could neither comment on nor confirm.
If verified, the surrender would be major blow to Ukrainian efforts to hold Mariupol, which has been the site of brutal, street-to-street fighting since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
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With convoys of Russian equipment moving in multiple directions toward the eastern Donbas region ahead of an expected offensive there, a top Ukrainian official said there would be no humanitarian corridors for the evacuation of civilians in several locations on April 13.
In a statement on Telegram, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk accused Russian troops of not adhering to the terms of agreements reached to allow the evacuations.
“In the Zaporizhzhya region, the [Russians] blocked evacuation buses, and in the Luhansk region, they are violating the cease-fire,” she said.
In Mariupol, Russian state TV on April 13 showed video of troops marching with their hands up that it said were Ukrainian marines who had surrendered. Similar video footage was circulating on the social media accounts of pro-Kremlin bloggers. The videos could not be independently verified.
“In the city of Mariupol…1,026 Ukrainian servicemen of the 36th Marine Brigade voluntarily laid down their arms and surrendered,” the Russian Defense Ministry said earlier.
Zelenskiy’s office did not immediately respond to queries seeking comment, nor did the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. Reuters quoted a ministry spokesman as saying he had no information on whether the reports were true.
Vadym Denysenko, an aide to the Ukrainian interior minister, rejected the Russian claim, telling Current Time that it hadn’t been confirmed by the Ukrainian military.
Oleksei Arestovych, another aide to Zelenskiy, posted a contradictory statement on Facebook, claiming instead that the 36th Marine Brigade had broken fighting lines and had joined units from the Azov Battalion, another military unit that has been battling to defend the city.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the surrender occurred at the Illych Iron and Steel Works, and that 151 wounded troops were treated on the spot and taken to Mariupol’s city hospital.
Earlier on April 13, Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen strongman whose soldiers have been at the vanguard of the assault on Mariupol, also said that more than 1,000 Ukrainian marines had surrendered.
Mariupol has also been the site of alleged chemical weapons use, something that international experts voiced concern about.
In his nightly address on April 12, Zelenskiy highlighted the unconfirmed reports, saying that while experts try to determine what the substance might be, “the world must react now.”
Hanna Malyar, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, said it was possible phosphorus weapons — which are not classified as chemical weapons — had been used in Mariupol.
Poland’s president, and the leaders of the three Baltic nations, headed to Kyiv on April 13 in a trip to bolster Zelenskiy’s government. They are the latest in a growing number of European leaders who have trekked to Ukraine in a show of support.
Russian forces were thwarted in the first phase of the war, failing to take Kyiv or other major Ukrainian cities, amid fierce defense from the Ukrainians, who have been increasingly well-armed with Western weaponry.
Russian military commanders are now shifting forces and gearing up for a new offensive in the Donbas region, where war has been ongoing since 2014. The region borders Russia, meaning it will be easier to supply and replenish troops.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to press on with the campaign, which has been met with punishing Western economic sanctions that are expected to push Russia’s economy into deep contraction this year.
Speaking on April 12 alongside Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka, Putin asserted that the Russia “had no other choice” than to invade, saying the campaign was aimed to protect people in parts of eastern Ukraine and to “ensure Russia’s own security.”
He pledged it would “continue until its full completion and the fulfillment of the goals that have been set.”
In the United States, Biden on April 12 characterized Russia’s war as “genocide” and accused Putin of trying to “wipe out the idea” of being Ukrainian.
Pressed later by reporters, he clarified the comment, saying he called it genocide “because it has become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian and the evidence is mounting.”
He added that lawyers can decide whether it qualifies as genocide, “but it sure seems that way to me.”
In Washington, a senior U.S. defense official said the Biden administration was preparing yet another package of military aid, possibly totaling up to $750 million.
U.S. media reported that the Pentagon was also set to convene a meeting of leading U.S. arms manufacturers on April 13, to discuss way to speed up the production of existing weapons and develop new ones to help Ukraine.
Among the U.S. and NATO weapons that experts say have greatly helped the Ukrainians are Javelin anti-tank missiles, Stinger antiaircraft missiles, and drones, including new so-called “kamikaze” Switchblade drones. Ukrainian forces have also received ammunition, flak jackets, night-vision goggles, first-aid kits, and other equipment.
In his nightly speech, Zelenskiy said evidence of “inhuman cruelty” toward women and children in Bucha and other suburbs of Kyiv continued to surface, including alleged rapes.
