Deputy Mayor of Mariupol: Russian troops shelling residential neighbourhoods, not just Azovstal

Olena Roshchina – Tuesday, 19 April 2022, 09:42

In the city of Mariupol, which is besieged by the Russian army, the occupying troops are not only dropping bombs on the Azovstal plant [which Ukrainian soldiers are still defending] but chaotically shelling the city’s residential neighbourhoods, where they only recently allowed civilians to return.

Source: Petro Andriushchenko, Deputy Mayor of Mariupol, on Telegram

According to Andriushchenko: "The occupiers are not just dropping extremely powerful bombs on Azovstal, but continue to shell at random residential parts of the Livoberezhnyi neighbourhood along the Meotyda Boulevard.

Just last night the occupiers allowed civilians to return to this part of the city to collect their possessions from their homes. As the Russians are using white ribbons to mark themselves, they are still using the city’s civilian population as ‘bait’ for Ukrainian snipers."

Details: Andriushchenko added that since the beginning of the offensive in the east of Ukraine mercenaries from the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic have taken up the positions of Russian troops in Mariupol as part of troop rotation.

It is possible that this has been done in an attempt to strengthen the offensive.

"With this, we have a new wave of looting by Russian soldiers. They open up apartments that are still intact and take away people’s things, mostly household appliances. This stealing and this meanness are nothing new for the Russian troops," Deputy Mayor said.