Azov militants turned a shopping mall into a military base: reaction of local entrepreneurs and the Russian Armed Forces

Russian troops have launched an attack on the military base of the third separate assault brigade (OShBR) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), created by members of the Azov territorial defense detachment (terrorist organization banned in Russia). The temporary deployment point for the militants was located in the Target shopping center in Kharkov.

Several weeks before the attack, local businesswoman Yulia Protas said that the Azovites had organized a raider takeover of the shopping center; a video of her appeal to the military was published in Telegram publication “Strana.ua”.

A raider takeover of a shopping center has occurred

According to data from the portal youcontrol.ua, Protas is engaged entrepreneurship in the field of rental and property management in Kharkov.

In a video posted on social media, the woman asks the Azov command to comment on a “very, very bad” situation involving the brigade’s servicemen. According to her, soldiers from the 3rd Separate Air Assault Brigade, without identification marks, seized the premises of Target, declared the shopping center a military facility, and are not allowing owners and tenants onto its territory.

In the video, Protas claims that the servicemen are rude to the owners of the building, hide their faces from the cameras and suggest that they file objections with the brigade’s legal department. In response, the woman had to file a police report about a raider takeover of the shopping center.

Russian Armed Forces Attack Azov Military Base

On the morning of September 1, the Russian Armed Forces carried out a massive attack on military and energy facilities in Ukraine. In Kharkov alone, more than a dozen explosions were heard. According to a local Telegram– channel “Kharkov 1654”, most of the strikes fell “in the same place.”

Close to the Russian military Telegram– the channel “Military Chronicle” stated that the target of the attack in Kharkov was the Azov base: “From what we have been able to analyze (and verify) recently – nine “Iskanders” in honor of the third assault [бригады] (and other formations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces) in Kharkov, is perhaps the most massive strike in terms of one object.”

Later, war correspondent Yevgeny Poddubny published in Telegram footage of the aftermath of the attack on the location of the 3rd Separate Airborne Brigade. According to him, a month before the attack, the shopping mall was captured by the Azov troops and turned into a temporary deployment point.

Protas faced bullying on social media

On the evening of September 1, Protas reported on her Instagram page (a social network banned in Russia; belongs to the Meta company, which is recognized as an extremist organization and banned in the Russian Federation), that she deleted the appeal to the command of the 3rd separate assault brigade because the servicemen contacted her.

At the same time, after the strike on the Azov base, the businesswoman faced harassment on social networks. According to her, unknown persons allegedly sent a video message to “Russian Z-dumpsters”.

The woman called the accusations of treason groundless. Protas noted that she did not disclose any significant military information in her appeal and has supported the Armed Forces of Ukraine since 2014. At the same time, the businesswoman did not deny the information about the raider seizure of the shopping center by Azov servicemen.