Russian President Vladimir Putin accused this Friday (04.22.2022) the Ukrainian authorities of preventing the surrender of the last soldiers entrenched in the Azovstal industrial zone, in the city of Mariúpol (southeast).
“The life of all Ukrainian soldiers, nationalist fighters and foreign mercenaries is guaranteed if they lay down their arms,” the president said. “But the kyiv regime does not allow them to take this possibility,” he said in a statement summarizing a conversation with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.
On Thursday, Putin ordered to surround the Azovstal area, where according to Moscow there are regarding 2,000 soldiers, but without giving the order for an assault, in order to preserve the lives of Russian soldiers.
On Friday, Putin also considered “irresponsible” statements by European officials regarding “the need to resolve the situation in Ukraine by military means and ignore the numerous Ukrainian war crimes.”
Likewise, the Kremlin leader accused the “leaders of most of the countries of the European Union of supporting clearly Russophobic actions”, referring to the exclusion of Russians from cultural and sporting events.
afp/dpa/ap /rr
