Conflicts & War

Moscow captures 6,500 Ukrainian military prisoners, Russia’s Shoigu says

Moscow, Jun 7 (EFE).- Some 6,500 Ukrainian soldiers have been captured by Moscow forces during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, defense minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday at a meeting with army staff.

“Over the last five days, 126 soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have surrendered, the total number amounts to 6,489 people,” Shoigu said.

Russian troops have seized Severodonetsk’s residential areas, the Ukrainian army’s last stronghold in the Luhansk region, and the offensive continues in Popasna with the aim of closing in on Ukrainian forces, the minister continued.

The battle to sieze Severodonetsk’s industrial area, where Ukrainian troops have taken shelter, is ongoing, he added.

“As a whole, 97% of the territory of the Luhansk People’s Republic has been liberated to date,” Shoigu added.

“A considerable part of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics along the left bank of the Seversky Donets has been liberated, including the towns of Krasnyy Liman and Sviatohirsk, and also 15 other populated localities,” Shoigu said.

The rebuilding of the Russian-occupied territory is underway and the Mariupol port has started receiving cargo ships, the minister said.

The Azovstal steelworks, where the last defenders of Mariupol took refugee before surrendering to Russian troops, has been completely de-mined, the Russian official concluded. EFE

mos/ta/ch

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