On May 20, 2022, the Russian Defence Ministry said every Ukrainian fighter had left the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol. Its count was 2,439 people who, in its words, had “laid down their arms and surrendered” since May 16. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu reported the “complete liberation” of the plant and the city to President Vladimir Putin. That is Moscow’s account, and Kyiv said little about the operation itself, beyond confirming an order to rescue the besieged troops.
The siege had lasted almost from the first days of the war. Ukrainska Pravda dates it from March 1. Weeks of shelling had laid waste to swathes of the port city before that, Daily Sabah reported. By late April the defenders, a mix of Azov regiment fighters, marines, border guards and police, were boxed into the steel plant, which also sheltered civilians.
Why Moscow wanted the port
Daily Sabah wrote that capturing Mariupol was central to Moscow’s plan of severing Ukraine’s access to the Sea of Azov and linking annexed Crimea to Russia overland. Shoigu pointed to symbolism as well, describing the city as the unofficial base of the Azov battalion that Moscow had vowed to destroy. On April 21, Putin told him to cancel any storming of the plant. “Block off this industrial area so that a fly cannot pass through,” he said, adding that he did not want to “climb into these catacombs.”
Shoigu’s own figures that day claimed more than 4,000 Ukrainian troops killed and 1,478 surrendered in the campaign for the city. They are Russian claims and Kyiv disputed the framing, with presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych arguing the plant could not be taken by force.
The surrender and its cost
For those inside, the end came by order. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the aim was to keep his heroes alive: “Ukraine needs Ukrainian heroes to be alive.” Mikhailo Vershinin, who ran Mariupol’s police patrol, told VOA a year later that the sky went quiet while officers negotiated terms. He recalled four months in captivity marked by torture, hunger and illness, and said more than 700 prisoners were still held. “Now I can say this,” he said. “If we knew what awaited us in prison, many people would not go, would not surrender.”
Both ports, in Russian hands
Mariupol and Berdyansk lie along the Sea of Azov’s northern shore. Defence Matters reported that Russia has occupied both since 2022, and that Moscow has used the surrounding coast to support units fighting in the south.
Ukraine accuses Russia of using the ports to support military logistics, and of exporting grain taken from seized territory. In the latest account, Unmanned Systems Forces commander Robert Brovdi said drones hit five vessels in or near the two ports, including dry cargo ships and a tanker. He alleged some had hidden their names or disabled radar. Defence Matters said those claims could not be fully verified independently.
Sources
- Russians claim all Ukrainian fighters withdrawn from Azovstal: Shoigu has already reported to Putin | Ukrainska Pravda
- Putin hails 'successful op.' in Mariupol, scraps plan on Azovstal | Daily Sabah
- Ukraine Says Drone Forces Struck Five Russian Logistics Vessels in the Sea of Azov – Defence Matters
- On Anniversary of Mariupol’s Fall, Azovstal Survivor Reflects on Surrender | VOA
