As the deputy platoon commander of the republic stated, this was done in order to “not leave behind a clean territory” in which the forces of the DPR and Russia could gain a foothold.
Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the Russian Armed Forces completely liberated the territory of the Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol from the Ukrainian military.
According to the Ministry of Defense, a total of 2,439 Ukrainian military and Azov militants laid down their arms and surrendered.