More than 1,700 Ukrainian soldiers defending the Azov steel plant in Mariupol have been taken into Russian custody since May 16, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Wounded soldiers were among them, some of whom were taken to Novoazovsk, in the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic, for treatment.
Ukraine officials have offered assurances that soldiers held could return home through an exchange, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also expressed hope of saving the soldiers’ lives, saying: “Ukraine needs living Ukrainian heroes.”
#Ukraine: The Ukrainian 24th Mechanized Brigade destroyed a LNR (Separatist) BRDM-2 armoured car with an 9M111 Fagot/9M113 Konkurs ATGM in the vicinity of #Rubizhne. pic.twitter.com/m0jKTu3NpE
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) May 21, 2022
