Mariupol. File photoMOSCOW, May 1.The commander of the 12th operational brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, Denys Shlega, said that several hundred civilians still remain at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol. At the same time, people released from the plant claim that Ukrainian militants intimidated civilians so that they left the territory of the enterprise, and that about 300 people could still remain there. «According to our calculations, several hundred more civilians are in the bunkers of Azovstal and about 20 small children. How many more such attempts (evacuations — ed.) are needed — is two or one run,” Shlega said on the air of the Ukrainian TV channel Rada. Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that 80 civilians, including women and children, were rescued from the territory of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, held by the Ukrainian Nazis. All released civilians were evacuated to the village of Bezymennoe in the Donetsk People's Republic, where they were provided with accommodation, food and the necessary medical assistance. Vladimir Zelensky admitted three hours later that civilians had been evacuated from Azovstal. 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 Kyiv regime for eight years.» 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.
