More than 1,000 Ukrainian marines have surrendered in the port of Mariupol, Russia's defense ministry said on Wednesday, signalling that it had moved closer to capturing the ruined city, its main strategic target in eastern Ukraine.
Taking the Azovstal industrial district, where the marines have been holed up, would give the Russians full control of Mariupol, Ukraine's main Sea of Azov port, and reinforce a southern land corridor before an expected new offensive in the country's east.
