View of the port in Mariupol from the Sea of Azov. Archive photoMOSCOW, 9 Apr. On the evening of April 8, the Kiev authorities tried to evacuate the Nazi leaders from Mariupol by sea, but Russian ships knocked out a dry cargo ship, Major General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, said. Valletta, under the Maltese flag, followed in a caravan of ships from the Taganrog Bay to the Kerch Strait.At 22 hours 38 minutes Moscow time, 30 km southeast of Mariupol, the cargo ship abruptly changed course and tried to break into the seaport «Mariupol» blocked from the sea by the Black Sea Fleet , the general said.European mercenaries are fighting in Mariupol. At the same time, the ship did not respond to the demands of the Russian border ships to get in touch through the international channel. Warning artillery fire, carried out along the course of movement, did not lead to anything. At the same time, the cargo ship was conducting a radio exchange, transmitting messages «I'm a Maniac, I'm coming to you,» and signal fires were observed on the shore. Artillery fire was opened on the Apache dry cargo ship. As a result of a direct hit on the ship, a fire broke out in the stern,» the official representative of the Ministry of Defense said. comply with all the requirements of Russian sailors. Konashenkov specified that there were no casualties among the crew members on the ship, the team extinguished the fire on their own. After inspection, the Ukrainian dry cargo ship «Apache» with the crew is escorted to the port of Yeysk.A captive pilot of the Armed Forces of Ukraine explained the failure of the evacuation of the leaders of «Azov» from Mariupol However, in June it was recaptured, after which the eastern suburbs became one of the hottest places of conflict in Ukraine. Among other Ukrainian units, the Azov nationalist regiment operates there, against whose fighters a criminal case has been initiated in Russia. As the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov said earlier, the city has now been 98 percent liberated. Since February 24, Russia has been conducting a special military operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. 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.» With the support of the Russian military, the DPR and LPR groups are developing an offensive. The fighting for the liberation of Mariupol has been going on for more than a month. Most of the city was taken under control, clashes continue mainly in the Azovstal area, where, according to the People's Militia of the LPR, about three and a half thousand militants are hiding. A significant part of them are the Azov nationalist regiment, against whose fighters a criminal case was opened in Russia. What distinguishes the Ukrainian security forces
