ICRC registers hundreds of prisoners of war from Azovstal plant (not thousands)
https://www.icrc.org/en/document/ukraine-icrc-registers-hundreds-prisoners-war-azovstal-plant
My sources say the number is already over 2k, and these numbers are purposely being downplayed by Ukraine. The troops in the east consist of Azov and the other nationalistic groups and are considered the most motivated, best trained, and equipped. And their loss is considered a major blow to Ukraine, with a demoralizing influence to the rest of the Ukrainian military forces, probably why they want the reported numbers undercounted.
There’s already reports of other Ukrainian forces refusing to fight because of lack of sufficient equipment, and with the loss of these forces in the east, the Ukrainian army left will soon be reduced to a rag tag bunch of guerilla fighters. I guess it’s up to NATO mercenaries to make up the difference. I’m just wondering how they intend to resupply these troops once their stockpiles run out. Moving arms from the western borders eastward will be no easy task. There’s already rumors of Polish troops slowly moving across the border into Ukraine, I guess the next step is attempting to draw NATO in directly, since the prospects of Ukraine being able to push the Russians back by themselves is increasingly diminishing.