Ukrainian forces completed a 'combat mission' in Mariupol after hundreds were evacuated

The garrison in Mariupol has fulfilled its combat mission and began to evacuate, according to the General Staff of the armed forces of Ukraine.

The Azovstal steel plant was a stronghold for Ukrainian troops in Mariupol and this likely means the end of the mission to defend it.

According to a statement, the Supreme Military Command ordered the commanders of the units stationed at Azovstal to save the lives of their personnel.

The defense officials said that 53 wounded troops were taken to a hospital in Novoazovsk, while another 211 were evacuated through a humanitarian corridor to Olenivka. They could be subject to a prisoner exchange with Russian troops.

Hundreds of Ukrainian civilians and troops were trapped at the Azovstal steel plant for months.

The statement said that the defenders of Mariupol are the heroes of their time.