Russian Defense Ministry Says Ukrainian Militants Sabotaged Evacuation of Civilians from Azot Plant
Ukrainian militants sabotaged the evacuation of civilians from the Azot Plant area through the humanitarian corridor opened by Russia, violated the ceasefire and shelled residential areas in Severodonetsk, said Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center.
He recalled that earlier on Wednesday, from 08:00 to 20:00 Moscow time (from 12:00 to 24:00 Hanoi time), the Russian side opened a humanitarian corridor to the North to evacuate civilians from the Azot Plant area in Severodonetsk, towards the city of Svatovo of the Lugansk People's Republic.
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| Photo Sputnik/Viktor Antonyuk. |
"Despite the unprecedented measures taken by the Russian Federation, the Kiev authorities have been brutally undermining humanitarian activities. Through objective control measures, including drones, numerous violations of the ceasefire regime have been recorded on the Ukrainian side. From the Azot Union Zone they have indiscriminately fired (with mortars and tank guns) at residential areas in the city of Severodonetsk," he said.
The Russian Defense Ministry also stated that there are no obstacles to rescuing civilians from the blockaded Azot Plant, except for Kiev's stance.
“The Russian Federation publicly and officially states that there are no obstacles to the evacuation of civilians from the Azot Plant area, except for the principled decision of the Kiev authorities and the leadership of nationalist organizations to continue to keep civilians as “human shields,” Mizintsev said.
