Twenty-eight Ukrainian troops get out of encirclement in Donetsk region- interior minister (updated)
KYIV. Aug 30 (Interfax) - The first group of Ukrainian troops encircled by the militia in Ilovaisk, the Donetsk region, have gotten out, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said.
"Our first troops from the Ilovaisk group have reached the National Guard brigade's strongpoint in Komsomolske. They are 28 people from the Interior Ministry battalions Peacekeeper (14), Kherson (3), and Dnipro-1 (11). Several people from Defense Ministry territorial defense battalions are with them," the Interior Ministry quoted Avakov as saying on Saturday.
Semen Semenchenko, the commander of the Donbas volunteer battalion said on Facebook that Ukrainian troops were continuing to get out of encirclement. "Those wounded have been provided with medical aid," he said.
Semenchenko had said earlier on Saturday that President Petro Poroshenko had informed him on reaching an agreement on taking Ukrainian troops out of encirclement in Ilovaisk.
"By 10:00 a.m. Saturday, all troops who did not surrender would be let pass through a special corridor with weapons and flags to the location where the main forces are deployed," Semenchenko said. "The military hardware has been blown up. All troops who have surrendered and also those wounded and held in captivity will be exchanged for Russian paratroopers in Kharkiv over the next several days," he said.
Meanwhile, the headquarters of the militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) says a lot of Ukrainian troops who have been encircled have preferred to surrender.
"The fighters of the mercenary battalions Donbas and Dnipro encircled near Ilovaisk are continuing to surrender in organized groups," the DPR militia headquarters said.
The DPR command had said on Friday that the encircled Ukrainian troops would be given the chance to surrender on condition that they transfer their weapons and hardware to the militia. The actual number of Ukrainian troops who have capitulated has yet to be verified.