President Volodymyr Zelenskiy plans to extend martial law and conscription in Ukraine for another three months as Russia says nearly 700 Ukrainian fighters have surrendered in Mariupol.
Ukrainian parliamentary support for the measures, stated in proposals published on Wednesday, is considered safe; therefore, martial law in the country appears to continue until August 23, the eve of Ukraine’s Independence Day.
Zelenskiy first went under martial law on February 24, just hours after Russian tanks first rolled over the borders, and he has since extended it twice by 30 days.
Experts consider the planned duration of martial law a good indicator of how long the government expects the fighting to last.
More than a day after Ukraine announced it had ordered its garrison in Mariupol to abdicate, the ultimate outcome of Europe’s bloodiest battle in decades remained unresolved.
Ukrainian officials stopped all public discussions about the fate of fighters who had taken their last stand there.
“The state is doing everything it can to save our military. Let’s wait. Right now, the most important thing is to save the lives of our heroes,” military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzaynik said at a news conference.
“Any information to the public could jeopardize that process.”
Russia said 694 more fighters surrendered overnight, bringing the number of people who laid down their weapons to 959.
The leader of the pro-Russian separatists who control the area, Denis Pushilin, was quoted by a local DNA news agency as saying the chief commanders were still at the factory.
Ukrainian officials had confirmed the surrender of more than 250 fighters on Tuesday, but they did not say how many more were inside or what could become of them.
“Unfortunately, the subject is very sensitive, and there is a very fragile series of talks going on today, so I can’t say anything more,” said Mariupol mayor Vadym Boichenko.
He said Zelenskiy, the Red Cross, and the United Nations were involved in talks but did not provide details.
Negotiations over Mariupol’s surrender came as Finland and Sweden formally applied to join NATO, sparking the expansion that Russian President Vladimir Putin has long cited as one of his main reasons for launching the “special military operation” in February.
The final surrender would mean a nearly three-month siege of the port city with more than 400,000 people, where tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in Russian bombings, according to Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials have discussed arranging a prisoner swap for Mariupol defenders.
Russia says no such deal has been made for the fighters, many from a unit created in 2014 by Ukrainian ultranationalists and later incorporated as a regiment into Ukraine’s National Guard, which it calls Nazi.
Russia says more than 50 wounded fighters have been taken to hospital for treatment and others brought to prison, both in cities held by pro-Russian separatists.
The Russian Defense Ministry posted videos of its alleged Ukrainian fighters being treated in a hospital after surrendering in Azovstal.
One man lying in bed said he had access to food and doctors, while a second said he had bandages and had no complaints about his treatment.
It was not possible to determine whether the men spoke freely.
The Kremlin says Putin personally guarantees the humane treatment of those who surrender.
Other Russian politicians have called for them to be imprisoned and even executed.
The Swedish and Finnish ambassadors presented their letters of application for NATO membership at a ceremony at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.
“This is a historical moment that we must seize,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
President Joe Biden said the US would work with Finland and Sweden to remain vigilant against threats while their membership was considered.
Turkey has said in recent days that it will block the accession of its Nordic members unless they do more to crack down on Kurdish militants on its territory.
with reporting from DPA