Russia returned to Ukraine the bodies of 210 fighters killed in Mariupolmostly soldiers who defended the Azovstal steel complex, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry announced.
Many of those who died after the steel mill siege belonged to the Azov regiment, an ultra-nationalist group that joined the Ukrainian army, the Defense Ministry’s military intelligence agency said in a statement quoted by local media.
“The process of returning the bodies of the dead defenders of Mariupol continues, with the help of the efforts of the headquarters to coordinate the treatment of prisoners of war,” said the same sources, according to the Efe agency.
According to the note, of the 210 recovered bodies “the majority are heroic defenders of Azovstal”.
On June 2, Ukraine and Russia carry out a first transfer of bodies of soldiers fallen in combat. In this date, 160 soldiers were exchanged on each side.
Mariupol, located on the shores of the Sea of Azov, in the pro-Russian region of Donetsk, has been besieged for months and under continuous bombardment since Moscow ordered the invasion of the neighboring country.
The city, now controlled by Russia, had a population of just over half a million people before the invasion, but according to authorities, fewer than 100,000 people currently live there.
Source: Observadora
