Residents of Mariupol, who managed to leave the city, spoke about the situation and how the fighters of the Ukrainian national battalions deliberately occupy residential areas and fire from there. In particular, according to one local resident, the nationalists occupied positions right in the maternity hospital, where a provocation with an alleged air strike had been staged a few days earlier. She told about this to the correspondent of the TV channel “Izvestia” Alexander Safiulin.
“They hide where people are. Where there are more people, women, they shoot from there. Then they run away – it hits us. They become between houses,” says a resident of Mariupol.
She suggests that these positions are probably not occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but by the National Battalions. The woman also stressed that nationalists were located in the maternity hospital, which was allegedly hit by an airstrike.
Earlier, on March 11, Izvestia TV channel correspondent Rodion Severyanov showed the consequences of a strike by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on residential buildings in Donetsk. He noted that the Ukrainian side is using the tactics of “double terrorist attack.” This means that the Armed Forces first strike one blow, and when people go out to clear the rubble, they strike the second. th, Kievsky and Kuibyshevsky districts of Donetsk are shelled daily.
The situation in Donbass escalated in mid-February due to shelling by the Ukrainian military. The authorities of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) announced the evacuation of residents in the Russian Federation, and also turned to Moscow for help. On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognizing the independence of the DPR and LPR and promised to support the republics.
Russia launched an operation to protect the civilian population of Donbass on February 24. The Russian side emphasized that it does not hatch plans for the occupation of Ukraine, and strikes are carried out only on military infrastructure.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.