20.04.2022, Moscow.
The militants of the nationalist battalions should address Kiev, not NATO countries, regarding the evacuation from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, Director of the Russian National Defense Control Center Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev said at a press conference on April 20.
“Separately, we inform the command of the Azov nationalist battalion (organization banned in Russia), which made a video appeal to the international community, including the leaders of the United Kingdom, the United States, and Turkey, asking for ‘green corridors’ and for the exit of civilians allegedly located at Azovstal, wounded militants, and the evacuation of bodies of dead Ukrainian fighters. You have addressed the wrong authorities,” Mizintsev noted.
He explained that Russia provided all possibilities for the withdrawal of militants from Azovstal, and advised to negotiate on this matter with the Ukrainian authorities, “who long ago abandoned you traitorously,” Mizintsev stressed.
The Azovstal enterprise was the last point in Mariupol controlled by Ukrainian militants. The Ukrainian army repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to evacuate militants from the plant, which was blocked by Russian troops.
Political analyst Marat Bashirov suggested that NATO career officers were hiding in the factory.
Earlier, US Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland said Russia might allow NATO forces to evacuate militants from the besieged factory.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
