Topline
The Russian defense ministry claimed on Wednesday more than 1,000 Ukrainian marines have surrendered in the besieged city of Mariupol, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed to swap recently detained pro-Putin lawmaker Viktor Medvechuk in exchange for captive Ukrainians.
A man walks with a bicycle in central Mariupol as Russian troops intensify a campaign to take the … [+]
Key Facts
According to Reuters, the Ukrainian marines were reportedly defending the Azovstal industrial district, one of the few areas of Mariupol that was holding off a full Russian capture of the key port city.
The capture of Mariupol will allow Russia to reinforce its land bridge connecting pro-Russian separatist-held areas in the Donbas region with the Russian annexed region of Crimea.
One of the soldiers reportedly forced to surrender to the Russians is 28-year-old British volunteer fighter Aiden Aslin, who goes by the nickname “Johnny.”
A post on Aslin’s personal Twitter account noted that they had no choice but to surrender as they had run out of both food and ammunition due to Russia’s siege of the city.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr offered to exchange recently captured pro-Russian lawmaker Viktor Medvedchuk for Ukrainians in captivity, but it’s unclear if Zelensky’s offer pertains to the Ukrainian soldiers captured in Mariupol.
Tangent
On Tuesday, the Security Service of Ukraine revealed that it had captured Medvedchuk—a Ukrainian lawmaker and close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Medvedchuk, who is a member of the pro-Russia For Life party, had reportedly managed to escape house arrest in February just days after Russia invaded Ukraine. Medvedchuk has been a close friend of Putin for decades and the Russian president is also godfather to Medvedchuk’s daughter. The Ukrainian oligarch was tipped by some as the potential leader of a puppet regime that Russia would have installed in Kyiv if it had managed to capture the capital city.
Key Background
The city of Mariupol has seen some of the worst fighting of the war, with the Russian military being accused of several war crimes there. The besieged city’s mayor said on Monday that over 10,000 civilians have been killed in the city and the real toll could be double that number. The leader of the Ukrainian ultranationalist paramilitary, Azov regiment, alleged on Monday that Russian forces had used a drone to deploy chemical weapons against the city’s defenders. While this has not yet been confirmed, officials in the U.S, U.K. and Australia have expressed concern and said they are monitoring the situation. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Tuesday said it was also closely monitoring the situation and said that the use of chemical weapons under any circumstances was “reprehensible and wholly contrary to the legal norms established by the international community.” On Wednesday, the global agency said it had received correspondence from both Russia and Ukraine about “the threats of use of toxic chemicals as weapons,” in the conflict.
Further Reading
More than 1,000 Ukraine marines surrender in key port of Mariupol, says Russia (Reuters)
Zelensky Offers to Exchange Putin Ally Medvedchuk for Captive Ukrainians (Bloomberg)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2022/04/13/russia-say-it-has-captured-more-than-1000-ukrainian-marines-zelensky-offers-prisoner-swap-with-putin-ally/