Defense Ministry says Kiev ordered nationalists to leave Mariupol disguised as civilians - TASS

Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the Russian National Center for Defense Management, on Monday said that Kiev officials ordered members of nationalist battalions in Mariupol to abandon the city disguised as civilians, including using humanitarian corridors.

"In the context of an official statement by Kiev about its refusal to conduct a humanitarian operation, and the militants to lay down their arms, they hypocritically instructed the nationalist battalions to leave the city in small groups under the guise of civilians, dressed in civilian clothes, using any opportunities, including humanitarian corridors," he said. "And the bandits immediately began to carry out this order."

According to Mizintsev, on March 20, fighters from the Azov battalion killed the parents of two children and, using these children as a cover, attempted to leave for Zaporozhe in a car that belonged to the family. "But they were identified and promptly detained by Russian servicemen," he said. "The children were saved, they are being provided the necessary assistance.".