Azovstalförsvarares kroppar anländer till Kyiv

The siege of Mariupol was a military action in Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, when forces from Russia and the separatist Donetsk People's Republic engaged Ukrainian forces in the city of Mariupol. The battle, which was part of the Russian eastern Ukraine offensive and southern Ukraine offensive, started on 24 February 2022 and concluded on 20 May 2022, when Russia announced the remaining Ukrainian forces in Mariupol surrendered after they were ordered to cease fighting.Mariupol is located in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, and is controlled by the Russian-backed separatist Donetsk People's Republic. Russian forces completely besieged the city on 2 March, after which they gradually gained control of the city. By 22 April, the remaining Ukrainian forces had retreated to the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works, a massive and highly defensible industrial complex.The Red Cross described the situation as "apocalyptic", and Ukrainian authorities accused Russia of engineering a major humanitarian crisis in the city, with city officials reporting that about 21,000 civilians had been killed. Ukrainian officials also reported that at least 95% of the city had been destroyed during the fighting, largely by Russian bombardments.The siege ended on 16 May 2022, after what media outlets variously called the "evacuation" or "surrender" of the remaining Azov Regiment personnel from the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works; the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the Ukrainians had "surrendered", a word Ukraine avoided using.Some western analysts called the result of the battle a "pyrrhic" or "mostly symbolic" victory and "reputational disaster" for Russia, after the complete destruction of the city, and a tactical defeat but strategic win for Ukrainian forces, which successfully tied up multiple Russian battalion tactical groups for months.