UPDATES: Russian MoD Calls on Kiev to Take Back Order to Militants to Become 'Martyrs of Mariupol'
20220320
In Mariupol, which has become a base of operation for the Azov battalion, nationalists are preventing the evacuation of local residents and using civilians as human shields while they launch counterattacks at advancing Russian forces from hospitals, schools, and other civilian infrastructure.
Over the past three days, Russian troops have helped to evacuate 59,304 people, including 139 foreign citizens, from the besieged city to Russia, the head of the Russian National Defence Control Centre, Mikhail Mizintsev, said on Sunday.
Official Kiev encouraged nationalists in the besieged city to become an "example of resilience", sacrifice themselves so that they would be given the status of "martyrs of Mariupol", according to the Russian MoD. To achieve this goal, they were given the green light to use more than 200,000 of the city's residents as "human shields".
On 24 February, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine responding to calls for help from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk in defending themselves against aggression by Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defence Ministry said the operation is only targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure.
© Sputnik
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
