Ukrainian Interior Minister Denis Monastirsky said that Ukrainian intelligence services are in contact with militants captured by the Russian army at the Azov steel plant, and that Kyiv is doing its best to secure their release.
Since hundreds of fighters laid down their weapons during the Russian siege in mid-May and were captured, their fate is no longer unknown, but Ukrainian intelligence has information about the conditions of their detention and the chances of their release. “We are confident that they will return home,” the minister said.
Russia claims that nearly 2,000 Ukrainian militants surrendered at the Mariupol Steel Plant at the end of a months-long siege. Kyiv wants to secure their release through a prisoner exchange.
Also on Ukrainian television, Governor Serhiy Gagdag told Luhansk that Ukrainian forces managed to recover a fifth of Severodonetsk in the fighting. The industrial city is now the epicenter of the attack of the Russian army. According to the governor, Ukrainian forces need more long-range weapons than they need now to keep Russian artillery at bay.
