Russia's Defence Ministry today said that over 1,900 Ukrainian soldiers have laid down their weapons as they surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine's port city of Mariupol, AFP reported.
The defence ministry had said Thursday (May 19) that 1,730 Ukrainian soldiers had surrendered this week at the Azovstal steel plant.
Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed the official number.
"Over the past 24 hours, 771 militants of the Azov nationalist regiment surrendered," the ministry said in its daily briefing on the conflict.
"In total, since May 16, 1,730 militants have surrendered, including 80 wounded," it added.
The ministry released a video appearing to show the surrendered soldiers walking out of the plant, some visibly wounded and others using crutches.
The ministry added the injured soldiers were taken to a hospital in Russia-controlled territory in eastern Ukraine.
Notably, over 900 Ukrainian troops, who were at Mariupol’s besieged Azovstal steel plant, have been sent to a prison colony on Russian-controlled territory, Moscow has said.
Meanwhile, 265 Ukrainian soldiers, including several dozen wounded, surrendered at the Azovstal steel of Mariupol earlier this week on May 17.
Meanwhile, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the industrial Donbas region, the focus of recent Russian offensives, has been destroyed.
(with agency inputs)