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MARIUPOL, Apr 24 Head of the Donetsk People's Republic Denis Pushilin said that the Ukrainian nationalists who settled on the territory of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol «was not long.» «The situation in Mariupol is still difficult, but this complexity is concentrated in Azovstal. The backbone of neo-Nazis remains, there is no active assault, as the president said. Nevertheless, we understand that they not long, due to various circumstances,» he said.The Ministry of Defense published a new list of Ukrainian losses and deserters. Earlier, the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, in a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, called for the opening of humanitarian corridors from Mariupol. In turn, the Russian leader spoke about the ongoing measures to protect the civilian population of Donbass, the daily opening of humanitarian corridors. Putin noted that after the liberation of Mariupol, the order was given to cancel the assault on Azovstal, and all who laid down their arms were guaranteed life. When the DPR was proclaimed in 2014, Mariupol, with a population of about 450,000 people, was the second largest city in the republic after Donetsk. However, in June of the same year, the Ukrainian security forces regained control over him. 
The Ministry of Defense showed footage of the rescue of a wounded officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by the airborne forces on March 7, 2022, the deputy commander of the battalion » Vostok» DPR Alexander Semyonov said that the city was surrounded, the cleansing of certain areas began. Among other Ukrainian units, resistance is being offered by the nationalist Azov regiment, against whose militants a criminal case has been initiated in Russia. On February 24, Russia launched a military operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» According to the Ministry of Defense, the armed forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and have already completed the main tasks of the first stage — they have significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal of the operation in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.