View shows a street damaged during the conflict between Ukraine and Russia in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, April 15, 2022. REUTERS / Alexander Ermochenko
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April 16 (Reuters) – Russia’s Defense Ministry announced on Saturday that it had cleared the entire Mariupol metropolitan area of Ukrainian forces, saying only a few fighters remained at the Azovstal steel plant, the site of repeated clashes.
In an online publication, the ministry said that as of April 16, Ukrainian forces in the besieged port city had lost more than 4,000 people, API added.
Russian forces have been trying for several weeks to seize the port on the Sea of Azov, a reservoir northeast of the Black Sea.
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“The entire urban area of Mariupol has been completely cleared … the remains of the Ukrainian group are currently completely blocked on the territory of the Azovstal metallurgical plant,” the ministry said.
“Their only chance to save their lives is to lay down their arms voluntarily and surrender.”
There has been no immediate reaction from Kyiv to a statement from the Russian ministry, which also says 1,464 Ukrainian servicemen have surrendered so far.
Moscow said the total number of so-called “irreparable losses” suffered by Ukraine was 23,367, but did not provide any evidence and did not say whether this included only the dead or those who were also injured.
(This story corrects to make it clear that Mariupol is on the Sea of Azov, not the Black Sea)
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Report by David Ljunggren; Edited by Cynthia Ostermann
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