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photo by Europa Press
The leader of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, has confirmed that his forces, allied with the Russian Army in the invasion of Ukraine, have identified 78 women among the Ukrainian fighters imprisoned at the Azovstal steel plant, their last remaining defensive bastion in the city of Mariupol, in the east of the country.
Pushilin has also confirmed that there are foreigners among those arrested, although he has not specified their exact number, according to statements collected by the Russian agency TASS.
“They had enough food and water, and weapons to spare. The problem was thatthey lacked medicines,” Pushilin explained.
The head of the Donetsk separatist zone added that at least six Ukrainian combatants died during the incursion. In the end when they tried to detonate an arsenal inside the steel mill to avoid their capture.
In total, according to the figures that Pushilin shuffles, a total of 2,439 Ukrainian soldiers and combatants of the Azov paramilitary organization have been captured by Russian troops during operations in Azovstal.