Russia returns dozens of Ukrainian soldiers' bodies from Mariupol steel plant now occupied by Russian forces
DNA testing underway to identify remains of those killed at steel plant, Ukraine officials say
The latest:
- Russia begins returning bodies of Ukrainian soldiers killed in steel plant.
- Zelenskyasks for secure corridor to get grain out to prevent food shortages in Asia and Africa.
- UN envoy says sexual violence and trafficking of Ukrainian women and girls is underreported and prevalent.
Russia has begun turning over the bodies of Ukrainian fighters killed at the Azovstal steelworks, the fortress-like plant in the destroyed city of Mariupol wherealast-ditch stand became a symbol of resistance against Moscow's invasion.
Dozens of fighters' bodies recovered from the bombed-out mill's ruins, now occupied by Russian forces, have been transferred to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. DNA testing is underway to identify the remains, said Maksym Zhorin, a military commander and former leader of the Azov Regiment.
The Azov Regiment was among the Ukrainian units that defended the factory for nearly three months before surrendering.
It isn't clear how many bodies might still remain at the plant, which was relentlessly pounded by surrounding Russian forces from the air and sea.
The fighters' dogged defence of the steel mill frustrated the Kremlin's objective of quickly capturing Mariupol and tied down Russian forces in the strategic port city. The defenders were hailed as heroes by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The last Azovstal holdouts, more than 2,400 fighters in all, finally relinquished the plant in May, marching out without weapons and carrying their wounded. The survivors' fate in Russian hands is shrouded in uncertainty.
Anxious relatives await word
The Ukrainian government's Ministry for Reintegration of Occupied Territories on Saturday announced the first officially confirmed swap of troops' bodies since the war began. It said the two sides exchanged 320 bodies in total, each getting back 160 sets of remains. The swap took place Thursday on the front line in the southeastern city ofZaporizhzhia.
Anna Holovko, a spokesperson for the Azov Regiment, said all 160 of the Ukrainian bodies turned over by the Russians were from the Azovstal ruins. She said that at least 52 of those bodies are thought to be the remains of Azov Regiment soldiers.
Zhorin, who is now co-commanding a Kyiv-based military unit, confirmed that bodies from the steel plant were among those exchanged.
The AzovRegiment is a National Guard unit that grew out of a group called the Azov Battalion, formed in 2014 as one of many volunteer brigades that arose to fight Russia-backed separatists in Eastern Ukraine. The Azov Battalion drew initial fighters from far-right circles.
The brother of an Azov fighter missing and feared dead in the steelworks told the Associated Press that at least two trucks of bodies from Azovstal have been transferred to a military hospital in Kyiv for identification. Viacheslav Drofa said the remains of his elder brother, Dmitry Lisen, did not appear to be among those recovered so far.
Bodies were recovered last week from the mill and some were severely burned, he said.
The mother of a soldier killed in a Russian airstrike on the plant said the Azov Regiment telephoned her and said that her son's body might be among those that have been transferred to Kyiv. The mother did not want her or her son to be identified by name, saying she feared that discussing the recovery process might disrupt it.
She tearfully referred to her son as a hero and said she wants to be able to lay his remains to rest.
"I'm just waiting for the body of my son," she said. "It's important for me to bury him in our Ukrainian land."
Zelenskymakes pleato get grain out
Meanwhile, Ukraine's president is asking for a secure corridor for Ukrainian vessels to be able to ship out grain and prevent food shortages in Africa and Asia.Zelensky told a news conference on Monday that Kyiv is in talks with countries like Turkey and the U.K. about security guarantees for Ukrainian ships.
"It is important for us that there is a security corridor that the fleet of this or that country ensures the shipping of the grain," Zelensky said.
Zelenskyadds that "if now we have 22-to-25 million tons [about 22 metric tonnes] blocked there, in the fall we might have 75 [about 68 metric tonnes]."
"What are we going to do? he asked. "That's why we can't do without the ports."
He explainedthat Ukraine can't export large shipments of grain via railways because of long delivery times, even though Kyiv has been in talks with Poland and the Baltic nations. Transport through the territory of Russia's ally Belarus isn't an option, he said.
Missiles strike northeastern Ukraine town
Russiacontinued to pummel targets in Ukraine on Monday.
Russian warplanes fired long-range missiles to destroy a plant on the edge of the town of Lozova in the northeastern Kharkiv region that was repairing armoured vehicles, Russian Defence Ministry spokespersonMaj.-Gen. Igor Konashenkov said.
Russian aircraft hit 73 areas of concentration of Ukrainian troops and equipment, while the Russian artillery struck 431 military targets, Konashenkov said. His claims couldn't be independently verified.
Russian forces also continued to fight for control of Severodonetsk, an Eastern Ukrainian city that is key to Moscow's goal of completing the capture of the industrial Donbas region.
Zelenskysaid Ukrainian forces were holding their positions in the city amid fierce fighting in the streets, as Russia tries to deploy more forces.
"But it is the 103rd day, and the Ukrainian Donbas stands. It stands firmly," he said in his nightly address to the nation.
Zelenskyalso said Moscow's forces intend to take Zaporizhzhia, home to more than 700,000 people, a move that could severely weaken Ukraine's standing and allow the Russian military to advance closer to the centreof the country.
"In the Zaporizhzhia region ... there is the most threatening situation there," Zelenskysaid.
Sexual violence 'prevalent'
In other developments Monday, the United Nations'envoy on sexual violence in conflict says sexual violence in Ukraine, especially against women and girls, remains prevalent and underreported, and the humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country is turning into "a human trafficking crisis."
Pramila Patten told the UN Security Council Monday that there is a gap between its resolutions aimed at preventing rape and other sexual attacks during conflicts and the reality on the ground for the most vulnerable women and children.
As of June 3, she said, the UN human rights office had received 124 allegations of conflict-related sexual violence 97 against women and girls, 19 against men, seven against boys and onegender unknown. Verification of these cases is ongoing, she said.
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