The Russian Foreign Ministry said more than 900 Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol since May 16 have been sent to a pretrial detention center.
Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that a total of 959 Ukrainian soldiers, including 51 with severe wounds, had surrendered over the course of two days.
She reaffirmed the injured are receiving treatment at the hospital at Novoazovsk in the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), while the others were sent to a pretrial detention center in Olenivka, a town near the front lines but in territory controlled by the DPR.
CNN is unable to confirm the Russian tally.
The Ukrainian side has not given an update on the number who have left Azovstal nor on the status of negotiations for their exchange for Russian prisoners.
Amnesty International has said Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered at the steel plant must not be ill-treated and should receive immediate access to the International Red Cross.
