Concern mounts over fate of 2,500 Ukrainian POWs from Mariupol steel plant

The Ukrainian government has not commented on Russia’s claim of capturing Azovstal, which for weeks remained Mariupol’s last hold-out of Ukrainian resistance

The ruins of Mariupol. Picture: AP

Concern is mounting over Ukrainian fighters who became Moscow’s prisoners at the end of a brutal three-month siege in Mariupol – as a Russian-backed separatist leader vowed they would face tribunals.

Russia has claimed full control of the Azovstal steel plant, which for weeks was the last hold-out in Mariupol and a symbol of Ukrainian tenacity in the strategic port city, now in ruins with more than 20,000 residents feared dead.