View of Mariupol in the direction of the Azovstal metallurgical plantMOSCOW, Apr 18Volodymyr Zelensky’s concern about the fate of the members of the Azov Battalion (a criminal case has been initiated against its fighters in the Russian Federation) is due to the fact that among them there may be representatives of Western intelligence services who participated in the preparation of the attack on Donbass, a member of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption told RIA Novosti Adalbi Shkhagoshev. Earlier, the commander of the DPR unit with the call sign Khokhol told RIA Novosti that high-ranking mercenaries from NATO countries could be located on the territory of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, this could cause active resistance by Ukrainian militants. Zelensky previously stated that Kyiv would not negotiate with Moscow in the event of the destruction of the Ukrainian military in Mariupol, whom the Russian Ministry of Defense had repeatedly offered to surrender. preparing an attack on the DPR and LPR in March,» Shkhagoshev said. According to the deputy, «the special services of Britain and the United States» took part in this preparation. In this regard, there is a lot of pressure on Zelensky now, the politician added.»Only IS does that.» The American journalist was amazed at the atrocities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine»Perseverance, even with the use of Medvedchuk's name, is connected precisely with this, therefore Zelensky is now under great pressure from the British and Americans,» he concluded. 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 DPR and Russia 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 abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» To this end, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine» bloody crimes against civilians» of Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops, and on March 25 they completed the main tasks of the first stage — they significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
