Russia MoD announces takeover of Kiev command center, troops surrender
The Russian Ministry of Defense assures that its troops are humanely treating their Ukrainian counterparts, complying with international humanitarian law.
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Photo of the captured Ukrainian soldiers in Kiev Oblast, Ukraine (Russian media)
The Russian armed forces were able to take over a Ukrainian military command center in Nikolaevka, a town in the suburbs of Kiev, the Russian Defense Ministry announced Saturday.
The command center, according to Moscow, was a fortified and protected underground facility, and it had 61 Ukrainian soldiers.
Moscow's defense ministry said most of the Ukrainian servicemen were senior officials in the country's armed forces, and they all surrendered to the Russian forces.
The Russian defense ministry also said all of the Ukrainian servicemen laid down their arms because of the mass shortage of equipment, munition, and food.
"All of the military personnel that laid down their arms were evacuated, and they were provided with medical attention if required. All of those who surrendered were provided with food, too," said the ministry of defense.
Russia underscored its compliance with the international humanitarian law when it comes to its treatment of Ukrainian prisoners, allowing them to make contact with their families and providing them with healthcare and three meals a day.
61 #Ukrainian servicemen voluntarily surrendered in Nikolaevka☝️, of which more than half are senior officers
— R&U Videos (@r_u_vid) March 26, 2022
The military laid down their arms en masse due to an acute shortage of material, ammunition, and food pic.twitter.com/ZejGRFBODw
Russia had launched a special military operation in Ukraine over NATO's eastward expansion, the Ukrainian shelling of Donbass, and the killing of the people of the Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic, in addition to Moscow wanting to "denazify" and demilitarize Ukraine.
In light of the latest Russian advances, US President Joe Biden met with Ukrainian officials in the Polish capital, Warsaw, on Saturday, accompanied by his Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and his Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin.
The meeting took place with the Ukrainian counterpart of the delegation that accompanied Biden, Dmytro Kuleba, and Oleksii Reznikov, respectively, at the Marriott Hotel to discuss certain issues related to the war in Ukraine.
Ukraine has been pressuring its western ally and NATO to intervene against Russia and pump more weapons and assistance to Kiev, and these calls have even included calls from President Zelensky for the West to impose a no-fly zone over his country, which Brussels and Washington dismissed several times, citing the fact that this could lead to a war with Moscow.
