Today, Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Russian forces opened fire on a Ukrainian ship that was trying to evacuate the commanders of the Azov Battalion from the besieged city of Mariupol.
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“The Kyiv regime does not abandon attempts to evacuate the commanders of the Azov National Regiment and foreign mercenaries from Mariupol,” the ministry said in a statement.
On Friday evening, Russian forces fired artillery at a Ukrainian cargo ship when it suddenly changed direction and tried to break through the blockade of the port of Mariupol.
After these shots, the Maltese-flagged Apache caught fire and announced that they would comply with Russian demands.
According to Moscow, there were no casualties among the crew members. The Apaches and their crew were escorted to the Russian port of Lisk, located on the shores of the Sea of Azov.
Members of the Azov Battalion fought against Russian forces in Mariupol, a town in southeastern Ukraine between Russia’s annexed Crimea and the breakaway regions in the east of the country.
The Azov Special Operations Detachment, formerly the “Azov Battalion”, is an essential part of the Russian propaganda campaign accusing the Ukrainian authorities of ties to the neo-Nazis.