Russia-Ukraine: Red Cross Registers Fighters As Prisoners Of War

Ukrainian fighters in Mariupol have surrendered, the Russian military said on Thursday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) registered hundreds of the fighters as prisoners of war.

The ICRC said that the registrations of Ukrainian prisoners of war, which included wounded fighters, began on Tuesday under an agreement between Russia and Ukraine.

While Ukraine said it hopes to get the soldiers back in a prisoner swap, Russia threatened to put some of them on trial for war crimes.

The Red Cross cited rules under the Geneva Conventions that should allow the organization to interview prisoners of war without witnesses and that visits with them should not be unduly restricted.

The organisation did not specify how many prisoners of war were involved.

It is also not clear how many fighters are left at the plant.

But Russia previously estimated that it had been battling some 2,000 troops in the waterside plant.

Ukraine, which says it aims to secure a prisoner swap, has declined to say how many were inside the plant or comment on the fate of the rest since confirming that just over 250 had surrendered.

Meanwhile, in the first war-crimes trial held by Ukraine, a captured Russian soldier pleaded guilty on Wednesday to killing a civilian and faces possible life in prison.

In the war-crimes case, Russian Sgt. Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old member of a tank unit, pleaded guilty to shooting a 62-year-old Ukrainian in the head through a car window.