Russian troops threaten to open fire if Mariupol residents have no white ribbons

Olena Roshchina – Wednesday, 20 April 2022, 10:32

Russian occupying forces in Mariupol started threatening to shoot civilians in Mariupol if they refuse to wear white ribbons.

Source: Petro Andriushchenko, Advisor to the Mayor of Mariupol, on Telegram

According to Andriushchenko: "The occupiers no longer ‘mildly’ propose that civilians wear white ribbons to mark themselves out; they have turned to direct threats to open fire on anyone seen on the street without such ribbons.

Russians are gradually turning the city into a true ghetto for Ukrainians, at the same time using civilians as bait to detect hotspots."

Details: Andriushchenko recalled that the Russian occupying troops have once again announced a ceasefire in Mariupol on 20 April in expectation that Ukrainian troops will surrender.

"After a similar announcement was made yesterday, the ‘ceasefire’ that had been declared was accompanied by footage of occupiers carrying out assault and combat operations throughout its entire duration. Nothing new, everything according to Orwell: peace is war, freedom is slavery," the Advisor to the Mayor said.

Andriushchenko also said that Federal Security Service "volunteers" are spreading a lie among Mariupol residents that those who remain in the city will be deemed "enemies" [by the Ukrainian government] and will be arrested and used as "cannon fodder". "This is an open provocation and completely not true," he warned.

Andriushchenko reported that the "internet has begun systematically appearing" and Viber may  work in the Metro and Port-City neighbourhoods of Mariupol, as well as around the former ATB store on Skhidnyi.

He urged Ukrainians to contact Mariupol residents and tell them that "they have not been betrayed or abandoned".

The Mayor’s Advisor noted that Mariupol’s main social media accounts are controlled by the Russian occupiers. "Mariupol Seichas" [Mariupol Now] Telegram channel is an exception.