View of the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. Archival photoMARIUPOL, May 2.The Ukrainian side broke the silence regime at Azovstal, shelling began from their positions on the territory of the plant, the DPR military had to respond, a representative of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Donetsk People's Republic told RIA Novosti. «The Ukrainian side began to violate the silence regime, and had to take retaliatory actions. They are afraid of responsibility for their crimes, which they have been committing for eight years,» the agency's interlocutor said. Azovstal managed to evacuate several hundred civilians from nearby neighborhoods as well.On April 30, 46 people evacuated from Azovstal decided to stay in the DPR. Earlier, the headquarters of the territorial defense of the DPR reported that 101 people had been evacuated to Bezymennoe from the territory of the Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol. The day before, the Ministry of Defense stated that thanks to the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, 80 civilians, including women and children, who were held by Ukrainian nationalists, were rescued from the territory of the plant. All of them were evacuated to Bezymennoe, where they were provided with accommodation, food and medical assistance. Russia has been conducting a special operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine since February 24. As Vladimir Putin stressed, its goal is «to protect people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» According to the Ministry of Defense, the Russian military strikes only on military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops, nothing threatens the civilian population. The department called the liberation of Donbass the main goal of the operation.
