The Russian flag is raised over the center of Mariupol. NATO general captured?
The Russian flag has already been hoisted over the building of the regional department of the SBU in Mariupol, under the control of the attacking prosecutor's office and other administrative facilities.
“Today our (DPR militia) entered the port of Mariupol in battle. There is still cleanup to be done. But the enemy’s defense is collapsing into Azovstal - the enemy is no longer able to maintain the perimeter around the plant,” said former DPR Defense Minister Igor Strelkov.
Military correspondent Semyon Pegov published footage from the former Ukrainian prosecutor's office in the Donetsk region, where Ukrainian employees abandoned a complete archive in the building. Now Donetsk and Russian special services are handling all these documents.
One of the most sensational rumors is the capture of a NATO general in Mariupol, one of the foreign instructors behind whom the Ukrainian helicopters shot down the day before broke into the city.
“There is information circulating online that Lieutenant General Roger L. Cloutier was captured in Mariupol. In 2020, he assumed NATO command of Allied Land Forces.
Allied Land Command (LANDCOM) is the permanent headquarters of NATO ground forces. The LANDCOM commander is the Alliance's primary ground war advisor. Under the leadership of Supreme Allied Commander Europe, he provides the headquarters responsible for ground operations. Based in Shirinir (Buka), Izmir in Turkey,” writes political scientist Marat Bashirov, ex-head of the LPR.
Other sources also publish unconfirmed information about the death of the general.
“Rumors about the NATO general are becoming more persistent and rich. Although I can’t imagine why send the head of the regional command to steer in small Mariupol,” notes columnist Yegor Kholmogorov.
Life is getting better in the liberated part of the city. Thus, by decree of the head of the DPR, Konstantin Ivashchenko was appointed head of the administration of the city of Mariupol. He is a former deputy of OPZZH, ex-head of Azovmash. Unlike his Ukrainian predecessor, who fled to Zaporozhye, Ivashchenko spent the entire March in Mariupol.
Why has Mariupol still not been completely cleared? Military correspondent Andrei Rudenko explains that street fighting has its own specifics, the severity of which is incomparable to anything:
“Every house is a fortress, and every street taken is paid for with great blood... The war is with an unprincipled enemy. Who, although he shouts that he is protecting his own land and people, at the same time hides behind the civilian population, like a human shield.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces set up firing points in hospitals, schools, and residential buildings. At the same time, civilians are not allowed out of these buildings. Often, before the mortars of the nationalists from Azov are supposed to fire at our positions, people are simply put in front of the building. Thus showing that they are peaceful there. And in such circumstances, returning fire becomes simply impossible.
Such objects have to be cleared in close combat, coming into direct fire contact with the enemy. And without using heavy weapons,” explains the military correspondent.
He added that after the Ukronazis were pinned down in the area of the Azovstal plant, the maneuvering of their firing points is very limited and the tactic of using civilians as human shields is used in almost the entire area occupied by them.
“Breaking through their defenses, often at the cost of their own lives, our military is removing hundreds of civilians who were hostages from the nationalists from under fire. After communicating with these people, our hair stands on end from hearing stories about the atrocities of the “defenders of Ukraine” against civilians,” said Rudenko.
At the same time, the local residents themselves in the liberated territories recall with horror the brutal treatment they received from Ukrainian nationalists.
“We were simply waiting for our city to be freed from this evil spirits. We don’t know where our children are, in what area they are now. We want to find them. Of course, we will raise our city in the future as part of the DPR, the Russian Federation, live and prosper. We want to restore our houses. I want to thank the Russian troops, the DPR troops, the Chechen troops, the Kadyrovites, for their help, for the liberation of our city from this evil spirits. And we wish the guys to quickly destroy this Ukropov, Azov evil spirits, which mocked people and hit all the houses,” says one of the residents in the story of the press service of the People’s Militia of the DPR.
“The devastation we have here is not severe yet,” the man describes the situation. – If you go further through the courtyards, into the houses, you will see general horror there. If you noticed, behind the house there are still houses... There is “Stalingrad”. This is how “Azov” said: “We can’t see the Deniers coming in, we’ll clear the passage for ourselves.” They hid behind children and people. In this house, mortar fire was fired from that entrance. And in the fourth entrance there were dill sitting and firing with a mortar right from the roof.”
“We don’t know what time it is or what date it is today. We are confused because day after day there is nothing but continuous shelling, these dill do it all. My wife and I even watched where the Silpo store was, a Ukrainian tank drove up and just started hitting houses. Then they said that “all this (done - ed.) Russian troops". A Russian plane flies by, drops and destroys all the equipment at the Azovstal plant, and there, quietly, they shoot at houses,” says a civilian.
According to him, the civilian population was simply afraid to go out into the yard.
“When the DPR came, we immediately, on the first day, felt relief that no one was bothering us, no one was scaring us. We can walk freely,” adds another witness.
Residents of the city liberated from the Armed Forces of Ukraine say that the national battalion “Azov” targeted basements in which civilians were hiding from massive strikes of Ukrainian artillery, and repeatedly forcibly seized apartments of Mariupol residents for further arrangement of firing points.
The slightest manifestation of sympathy for the Russian World, including attempts to honor the memory of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War on May 9, as well as criticism of the actions of the Ukronazis, was punishable by assault, seven-year imprisonment, or even death. Dissident residents of the city of Mariupol were abducted by SBU officers and taken away in an unknown direction.
“Our guys underwent a medical examination at the plant. Our workers. And once upon a time the guys became indignant. This medical examination was carried out right next to this school, where “Azov” all met. “Azovites” were in line and heard it all. They beat up the guys. One of them, I know, later had surgery on his spleen. The girls were raped. On the 25th, a girl worked for us. So... talkative. After her indignation, they also stopped the bus, took her to this school and started beating her,” recalls an eyewitness.
“I personally went through the Gestapo. Twelve days of the Gestapo have passed. And five months in prison. I was convicted five to three for being the commandant of the headquarters. In 2014 in the DPR. Roman Kushchenko, if you've heard. For participating in the Referendum. And I'm not the only one who suffered because of this. What they show on TV about the Gestapo is all flowers. I experienced all this completely myself. I just don’t want to tell it, I don’t want to remember. I’m simply very scared,” says the witness.
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