View of Mariupol in the direction of the Azovstal metallurgical plantMOSCOW, Apr 21Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, said that there was no need to climb into the catacombs, it was necessary to block the industrial zone in Azovstal so that the fly would not fly by. life and health of soldiers and officers. «There is no need to climb into these catacombs, crawl there underground along these industrial facilities. Block this industrial zone so that the fly does not fly by. Suggest once again to everyone who has not yet laid down their arms to do this «, — Putin said. The President stressed that the Russian side guarantees their lives and decent treatment in accordance with international legal acts, the wounded will be provided with qualified medical care. />Kadyrov: «Azovstal» will be under Russian control «before or after lunch» At the time of the proclamation of the DPR in 2014, Mariupol with a population of about 450 thousand people was the second city of the republic after Donetsk, but in June of the same year, Ukrainian security forces regained control of Mariupol. On March 7, 12 days after the start of the Russian special operation to demilitarize Ukraine, the deputy commander of the Vostok battalion, Alexander Semyonov, announced that the city was surrounded, and a cleansing of its individual districts had begun. The official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Igor Konashenkov, said on April 16 that the entire city territory had been cleared of the Ukrainian army, foreign mercenaries and neo-Nazis from the Azov regiment (against whose militants a criminal case was initiated in Russia). The remnants of the Ukrainian group are blocked at the Azovstal plant. 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 genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.» According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, as of March 25, the main tasks of the first stage were completed — they significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass. On April 19, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced the start of the next phase of the special operation.
It would take three to four days to storm Azovstal, Shoigu said
