Russia said on Tuesday that 265 Ukrainian soldiers, including several dozen wounded troops, surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine’s port city of Mariupol.
Sweden on Tuesday signed a formal request to join NATO, a day after the country announced it would seek membership in the 30-member military alliance. Finland’s Parliament has also overwhelmingly endorsed a bid from the Nordic country’s government to join NATO.
The moves by the two Nordic countries, ending Sweden’s more than 200 years of military nonalignment and Finland’s nonalignment after World War II, have provoked the ire of the Kremlin.
Read more news on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis here.
Here are the latest updates:
NATO
NATO chief hails ‘historic moment’ as Finland, Sweden apply
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that the military alliance stands ready to seize a historic moment and move quickly on allowing Finland and Sweden to join its ranks, after the two countries submitted their membership requests.
The official applications, handed over by Finland and Sweden’s ambassadors to NATO, set a security clock ticking. Russia, whose war on Ukraine spurred them to join the military organization, has warned that it wouldn’t welcome such a move, and could respond.
“I warmly welcome the requests by Finland and Sweden to join NATO. You are our closest partners,“ Mr. Stoltenberg said. “All allies agree on the importance of NATO enlargement. We all agree that we must stand together, and we all agree that this is an historic moment which we must seize.”
“This is a good day at a critical moment for our security,” a beaming Mr. Stoltenberg said, as he stood alongside the two envoys, with NATO, Finnish and Swedish flags at their backs. -AP
NATO
Finland, Sweden submit NATO membership application
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on May 18 that Finland, Sweden have officially applied to join the world’s biggest military alliance, a move driven by security concerns over Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The application must now be weighed by the 30 member countries. That process is expected to take about two weeks, although Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has expressed reservations about Finland and Sweden joining.
Ukraine
Mariupol forces taken to Russia-held areas
Hundreds of Ukrainian fighters, including wounded men carried out on stretchers, left the vast steel plant in Mariupol where they mounted a dogged last stand and turned themselves over to Russian hands, signalling the beginning of the end of the city’s siege.
Russia on Tuesday called the operation a mass surrender. The Ukrainians avoided using that word — but said the garrison had completed its mission, and that they were working to pull out the fighters that remain.
Ukraine
Ukrainian troops surrender in Mariupol steel plant: Russia
Russia said on Tuesday that 265 Ukrainian soldiers, including several dozen wounded troops, surrendered at the besieged Azovstal steel plant in Ukraine’s port city of Mariupol.
“Over the past 24 hours, 265 militants laid down their arms and surrendered, including 51 heavily wounded,” the defence ministry said.
The ministry added that those in need of medical care were transferred to a hospital in the town of Novoazovsk.
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