Azostal is holding out with all its might/Azov
Today, the Russian media published a statement by Russian Defense Minister Shoigu, in which he claims that the Russian army has established control over Mariupol. Further – in an exclusive blog for the channel 24 website.
According to him, the Ukrainian military, who remained on the territory of Azovstal, refused to lay down their arms, and are now “blocked” along the perimeter of the plant.< /p>
General assault on Azovstal
The situation in Mariupol and, in particular, at Azovstal is really serious. On the night of May 2-3, the bombardment began, the Russians used cannon and naval artillery.
As of 16:00 on May 3, a powerful assault on the territory of the Azovstal plant continued with the support of armored vehicles, tanks, with attempts to land troops using boats and a large number of infantry. The urgent appeal was written down by the deputy commander of the Azov regiment, captain Svyatoslav Palamar. He called for the immediate evacuation of the civilian population, which is still on the territory of the plant.
According to various estimates, up to 1,500 Russian invaders and local collaborators were involved in the assault.
We can say that this is a general assault on Azovstal. Actually, Russia, having allegedly allowed the evacuation from the territory of the plant, stuck to its own military plan to capture the last line of the Ukrainian defense of Mariupol. What can we oppose? Unfortunately, there are only diplomatic ways to resolve this situation.
Another act of genocide against Ukrainians
Now part of the occupying troops deployed near Mariupol has been transferred to other areas, namely, to the Maryinka region and to the Popasnyansky direction. The point is that, having actually blocked Mariupol, the Russians left only assault detachments, which are now fighting on the territory of Azovstal.
It is worth noting that despite the high representative level of previous agreements, the Russian fighters are storming the territory of the plant, where civilians remain.
On May 3, it became known about the death of two women. The Russian occupiers deliberately disrupted the evacuation and are attacking civilians in order to force our defenders to capitulate.
Today, the evacuation of civilians from the territories temporarily occupied by Russians continues. The column of buses has already left Mariupol and is heading towards the Lunacharsky ring.
Less so, according to the mayor of Mariupol Vadim Boychenko, more than 200 people are hiding at Azovstal. That is, the evacuation, which representatives of the International Red Cross and the UN have already reported as successful, actually did not take place at the moment of the complete withdrawal of the civilian population from the blocked territory of the plant.
In total, more than 100 thousand inhabitants still remain in the city. They also want to evacuate, but the Russians do their best to prevent this.
Can people still be saved?
In my opinion, it is worth raising the issue at the UN that Russia has once again violated its obligations. It is said that the Russian side was obliged and gave guarantees that the civilian population would be evacuated in the first place, namely from Azovstal.
At the same time, only 14 buses were provided. And only 3 of the 14 agreed arrived in Zaporozhye. The rest of the Russian invaders decided to leave in the filtration camps. How long this process will last is unknown.
This is a deliberate breakdown of previous agreements. Let me remind you that the agreements were at the level of the UN Secretary General. Ukraine should draw attention to this. Despite the highest representative level, Russia thwarted the deblockade. And now civilians are under attack from Russian aviation, tanks, cannon and naval artillery.
I would like to note that over the previous day, on May 3, Ukrainian defenders repelled 12 attacks in the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, destroyed 35 units of enemy equipment.
