Late in the evening on May 16, 264 Ukrainian troops from the Azovstal plant including more than 50 heavily wounded were taken to an area in Donetsk region occupied by Russia-backed militants and Russian troops.
On the evening of May 17, the next stage of evacuation began. At least seven buses carrying Ukrainian service members left Azovstal, Reuters said. There have been no official Ukrainian reports on the number of troops or destination.
Ukraine hopes to return all troops evacuated from Azovstal in a prisoner exchange.
What preceded the operation? The supreme military command ordered unit commanders stationed at Azovstal to “save the lives of the personnel,” the Defense Ministry of Ukraine and the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in their statements. As Ukraine continues efforts to negotiate saving troops in Mariupol, it was the order that served as a starting point for evacuation, not a decision to surrender by Ukrainian troops as Russian propaganda outlets say.
“The Mariupol garrison has fulfilled its combat mission,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in the statement. A common task facing Ukraine and the entire world is to “save lives of Mariupol’s defenders”, the statement proceeds.
They are “the heroes of our time”. They are forever in history, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said. Azov special forces unit, 12th brigade of the National Guard, 36th Marine Brigade, border guard and police service members, volunteers and territorial defense force of Mariupol defended the city and resisted the siege, the statement proceeds.
“Maintaining their positions at Azovstal, they did not allow the opponent to shift the grouping of up to 17 battalion tactical groups (about 20,000 personnel) to other directions,” the General Staff said. Thereby they hindered hostile plans to rapidly capture Zaporizhzhia, seize all of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and encircle the Ukrainian troops, the statement proceeds.
“By concentrating the main forces of the enemy around Mariupol, we had the opportunity to prepare and create defensive lines, where our troops stand ready today to repel the aggressor. It provided us critical time to form reserves, regroup forces, and receive assistance from partners,” the statement continued.
In almost three months of Mariupol’s defense, the Ukrainian troops eliminated 6,000 Russian soldiers, destroyed 78 tanks and more than 100 armored vehicles, and eliminated a general, service members reported.
What President Zelenskyi said. Wounded service members are getting medical treatment, President Zelenskyi said. The decision to pull them away from Azovstal was a matter of principle, he said. “I want to emphasize: Ukraine needs Ukrainian heroes alive. This is our principle. I think that every adequate person will understand these words. The operation to rescue the defenders of Mariupol was started by our military and intelligence officers. To bring the guys home, the work continues, and this work needs delicacy and time,” Zelenskyi said.
What Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said. Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said that evacuation of 264 service members to the occupied territories is the first stage of the operation. They are expected come home as part of a prisoner exchange. Evacuation from Azovstal continues.
Malyar explained that taking the military to occupied territory was the only possible option.
“A military deblockade was impossible. A different modality to save them was impossible either. That was the only way,” Malyar said at a news conference on May 17.
The operation will continue until the Ukrainian troops return home, Malyar said. The Defense Ministry could not give details of the operation. “The operation to save [the service members] continues. It is a sensitive topic, and we cannot give details not to harm the efforts,” she explained.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that “saving lives of the garrison of Mariupol’s defenders is key.” “These are very complex talks supported by the Red Cross. That is evacuation of heavily wounded and other injured troops,” Reznikov said.
“Our plan is to save them lives and freedom,” the Defense Minister added.
On May 17, speaker of the Russian Duma Vyacheslav Volodin accepted a suggestion by Russian MP Anatoliy Vasserman to ban exchange of Azov fighters. He called them Nazi and suggested to “pass a law to ban exchange of Nazi criminals – from those who killed civilians to those who decorated themselves with a fascist tattoo.”
Answering the proposal, Volodin said: “These are war criminals. We have to do everything so that they are tried.” The Russian Duma will consider a draft that could impose a ban on a prisoner exchange on May 18. On May 26, Russia’s Supreme Court will consider a bill to designate Azov as a terrorist organization.
The statements do not affect the talks underway to exchange Ukrainian troops taken to occupied territory from Azovstal.
“That is a political statement crafted as domestic propaganda that targets domestic political processes in Russia. The talks continue, and the operation proceeds,” Malyar said.
Ukraine in Flames #68: From Syria to Ukraine: resemblance in Russian warfare
Ukraine in Flames #68: From Syria to Ukraine: resemblance in Russian warfare Russia’s military tactics in Ukraine and Syria are strikingly similar. Ukraine in Flames #68 compares and contrasts the two campaigns.
Speakers:
Oleksandr Korenkov, International Research Center of Security Problems
Volodymyr Solovyan, analyst at New geopolitics Research Network
