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Russian and DPR troops have rescued some 47 sailors from civilian ships blocked within the Port of Mariupol
Russian and Donetsk forces have rescued some 47 civilian sailors stranded on board their ships within the port of Mariupol, the Donetsk Individuals’s Republic (DPR) militia mentioned on Sunday.
“Army personnel of Russia’s Armed Forces and the DPR have de-blockaded 47 crew members from Russia, Azerbaijan, Egypt and Ukraine, who had been holed up on board of the ships,” the DPR mentioned in an announcement.
The civilian vessels had been stranded within the Mariupol port amid the continuing battle, because the waterway had been closely mined by Ukrainian “nationalists,” who used the ships and crews as shields, the DPR famous. The crews have already been introduced right into a “protected zone,” the militia added, with out with out naming the evacuated ships.
Earlier within the day, the DPR claimed that two international vessels stranded within the Mariupol port had been boarded by “a bunch of retreating Ukrainian nationalists” from the infamous Azov regiment. The captured vessels are the Girl Augusta, a Jamaican-flagged cargo ship, and the Tsarevna, a Maltese-flagged bulk service.
The Ukrainian forces have been firing mortars, grenade launchers, and small arms from the vessels whereas “holding the crews hostage,” the DPR mentioned. The destiny of the crews of the 2 captured vessels stays unclear.
Town of Mariupol has seen intense combating between Ukrainian and DPR forces, that are backed by the Russian army, over the previous few weeks. Mariupol, which is claimed by the breakaway Donetsk republic as an integral a part of its territory, has been largely captured by DPR-allied forces, but Ukrainian fighters stay in a number of strongholds all through town.
Moscow despatched troops into Ukraine in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the phrases of the Minsk agreements signed in 2014, and Russia’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics in Donetsk and Lugansk. The German and French brokered protocols had been designed to regularize the standing of these areas inside the Ukrainian state.
Russia has now demanded that Ukraine formally declare itself a impartial nation that may by no means be part of the US-led NATO army bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was utterly unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the 2 republics by drive.
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