KYIV ¨C Hundreds of die-hard Ukrainian soldiers who had made a last stand against Russian forces from a Mariupol steel mill faced an uncertain future Tuesday under Kremlin custody after Ukraine¡¯s military ordered them to surrender.
The surrender directive, issued late Monday, made the soldiers prisoners and ended the most protracted battle so far of the nearly 3-month-old Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Even as Russia has struggled on other battlefronts, the surrender at Mariupol solidified one of Russia¡¯s few significant territorial achievements ¡ª the conquest of a once-thriving southeast port. The surrender also gave Russia¡¯s state-run media the ingredients for claiming its side was winning.
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