Smoke over neighborhoods in downtown MariupolMARIUPOL, Apr 7The militants of the Ukrainian nationalist regiment «Azov» (against whose fighters a criminal case was initiated in the Russian Federation) expelled residents of Mariupol from the hospital, a resident of Mariupol told RIA Novosti. «And I was taken to the hospital. I was heavily covered in blood. And then they kicked out. The «Azovites» were all taken to Azovstal (a metallurgical plant in Mariupol — ed.) and not walking civilians — to the first clinic. And those who were walking were kicked out on the street. The Azov people came and kicked me out,» he said.April 4, 19:07 Aggravation of the situation in the DPR and LPR A witness told how a Russian major who was beaten by nationalists died At the time of the proclamation of the DPR in 2014, Mariupol, with a population of about 450 thousand people, was the second largest city in the republic after Donetsk. However, in June of that year, the Ukrainian security forces regained control of Mariupol, and its eastern suburbs became one of the hottest places of conflict in Ukraine. On March 7, 2022, Alexander Semyonov, deputy commander of the Vostok battalion of the DPR, said that the city was surrounded, and a cleansing of some of its districts had begun. Currently, the allied forces of the Russian Federation and the DPR are fighting for the final liberation of the city. Among other Ukrainian units, they are resisted by the nationalist Azov regiment, against whose fighters a criminal case has been initiated in the Russian Federation. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and, as of March 25, they have completed the main tasks of the first stage — they have significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass. In the DPR, Ukrainian troops were driven out of Volnovakha, a strategically important regional center south of Donetsk; there are battles for Mariupol, the largest city on the coast of the Sea of Azov. In the LPR, according to a statement by the Russian Ministry of Defense on March 25, 93% of the territory of the former Lugansk region was taken under control. home in Volnovakha
