Mariupol is now completely blocked and surrounded by Russian troops and the forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic, a mass surrender of the Ukrainian military began. As it became known, more than 1,000 marines of the Armed Forces of Ukraine declared their surrender within a few hours.
After a large detachment of the Ukrainian Marines around 300 soldiers surrendered En-Masse in Mariupol a few days ago, it became known that this gave rise to a wave of large-scale surrender among the Ukrainian military, still in the besieged Mariupol. According to Russian military correspondent Oleksandr Sladkov, over a thousand Ukrainian marines have surrendered in the last 24 hours.
“Three hundred wounded, ninety unable to move independently, and more than 800 healthy soldiers were surrendered. If everything ends according to plan, the defense arranged by the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the Metallurgical Plant will fall, – said a Russian war correspondent.
The information on this subject was partially confirmed by a Russian war correspondent with the corresponding photographs with capitulating Ukrainian marines. However, it is impossible to confirm the data that more than 1,000 people surrendered from the photographs presented.
It is reported that the 36th Ukrainian Marine Corps Brigade in Mariupol released his last words through social media. The 36th Ukrainian Marine Corps Brigade said: “Dear Ukrainian people, we do not know what will happen next. But we implore you, remember the Marine Corps.
At the same time, the 36th Brigade of the Ukrainian Marine Corps said: Now the entire brigade has run out of ammunition and food has been cut off. After 45 days of fighting, all infantrymen were killed and now rely on artillerymen, drivers, guards, military bands, and anti-aircraft gunners to pick up their rifles and fight. The 36th Brigade will launch hand-to-hand combat at the last moment. Finally expressed the hope that Ukrainians will remember the battle of the 36th Marine Corps Brigade in Mariupol.
However, the battle in Mariupol will continue to be fierce. More than 3,000 remaining Ukrainian troops and Azov battalion are hidden in the three major factory areas with the steel factory as the core. Ukraine’s core positions in Mariupol are the three major factory areas, which are very difficult to crack. The Russian army has so far been outside the three major factories, and has never entered the core positions of the Ukrainian army.
The Russian army may now need to be rotated and replenished. The Russian army is divided into three groups in the Mariupol offensive: the first group is the 610th Brigade of the Marine Corps of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, the 100th Motor Infantry Brigade of Donetsk, and the Sparta Special Forces Battle Group. This group is mainly responsible for the area-by-area clearing operation of the Ukrainian defenders.
The second group is the 22nd Brigade of the Russian GRU Special Forces, the Donetsk Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Chechen Special Forces, the Grozny Special Police Force, and the Russian Army’s 150th Motor Infantry Division. The main task is to consolidate the front line behind the first group, and carry out the second round of complete settlement of the control area.
The third group is mainly responsible for perimeter vigilance and blockade tasks, evacuating people, screening fugitives, and so on. This group is basically the Donetsk reserve force.
However, judging from the current situation, it is very likely that the Mariupol will not be completely cleared by May 9. Because, the Russian army has not officially attacked the core position of the steel plant. At the same time, the Russian army devastated the 36th Brigade of the Ukrainian Marine Corps. However, the Azov battalion on the Ukrainian side still maintained combat effectiveness.
At the same time, after more than 40 days of fighting, the first and second groups of the Russian army were also very tired and needed to replace their troops and rest. According to Donetsk’s own casualty figures. Since the beginning of this year, 992 people have been killed, 4,315 people have been wounded, 321 people are missing, and 94 people have been captured, with a total loss of 5,722 people.
If you add the casualties of the Russian army, you can see that in the Mariupol battlefield, the losses of the Russian army and the Russian separatist forces are also relatively large. The original siege troops suffered relatively large casualties and were very tired. Urgently need the Russian army to re-enter a fresh force for the final battle.