Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin on air on March 21 “Channel One” stated that Ukrainian fighters were shooting at columns of refugees from Mariupol with heavy weapons.
“We are recording shelling of convoys with private vehicles. People who are trying to leave, they are already exposed to shelling from fairly heavy weapons. Initially, they were held hostage, now they are trying to simply exterminate them when they try to escape,” Pushilin said.
On March 21, Pushilin announced that several thousand representatives of Ukrainian nationalist battalions remained in Mariupol. According to him, it will not be possible to liberate the city in the next few days.
The day before, DPR Commissioner for Human Rights Daria Morozova said that after the complete liberation of Mariupol, the team of the Republic’s Ombudsman and law enforcement officers would enter the city and collect evidence of the crimes of the Ukrainian national battalions for the tribunal.
On the same day, refugees from Mariupol told about the shooting of two buses with children by fighters of the radical nationalist battalion “Azov” (several criminal cases were initiated against the National Battalion in the Russian Federation. – Ed.). Also, according to them, the fighters hide in schools and kindergartens, shoot from there and run away. In addition, they take cars and remove batteries from them.
In mid-February, due to the aggravation of the situation in the Donbass as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian military, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics announced the evacuation of the civilian population to the Russian Federation and asked for recognition of independence.
On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a corresponding decree. On February 24, Russia launched a special operation to protect the civilian population of Donbass. As the press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov clarified, the special operation has two goals – the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. According to him, both of these aspects pose a threat to the Russian state and people.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
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