Mariupol has endured months of constant bombardment, laying waste to the city’s infrastructure.
Ukraine says tens of thousands of people have been killed since the onslaught began.
On Tuesday, Ukraine’s military forces said they were evacuating all troops still in the Black Sea port city from their final stronghold, leaving Vladimir Putin’s forces in control of the area.
Whilst this marks the most significant defeat for Ukrainian forces so far in the war, those who held out throughout the months since February have been lauded as “heroes”.
The General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said the garrison stationed in the city “has fulfilled its combat mission”.
In a statement, they described how the “supreme military command ordered the commanders of the units stationed at Azovstal to save the lives of the personnel”.
In a tribute to those wounded and fighting for the city, the statement added: “Defenders of Mariupol are the heroes of our time.”
Anna Malyar, deputy Ukrainian defence minister, said that injured fighters will be taken for medical treatment in Russian-held towns nearby,
She said 53 soldiers from the Mariupol steelworks had arrived in Novoazvosk, a Russian-controlled town 20 miles east of Mariupol.
A further 211 people were taken to Olenivka, where Russian-supported separatists controlled the area.
All may be part of a prisoner exchange with Russian forces.
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