During a special operation in Ukraine, nationalists use the local population as human shields.

At the same time, they specifically keep civilians in settlements and do not allow them to evacuate.

This was reported by the headquarters of the territorial defense of the DPR.

The last such incident occurred on the morning of March 1 - civilians of Volnovakha, who wanted to leave the city, came under fire.

According to the headquarters, it happened at 10:10.

It is noted that Ukrainian nationalists opened fire on a column of civilians holding a white flag.

The civilians wanted to leave the shelling zone and evacuate to a safe place.

As the official representative of the People's Militia of the Donetsk People's Republic, Eduard Basurin, specified to RT, after the shooting began, civilians managed to hide.

They stayed alive.

“This morning, citizens who live in Volnovakha, with a white flag, wanted to leave the city and go over to our side.

When they began to move, they began to shoot at them.

The people got scared and went back.

People tried to leave, but they were not allowed to and started shooting.

The nationalists do not let them out of there and keep them like human shields, hostages,” Basurin said.

According to him, there is no exact information about the injuries of these people yet.

According to the residents of Volnovakha themselves in social networks, civilians who came under fire were injured and are now heading to their relatives in another area: “One was slightly injured, the other was damaged by a shock wave, the third seems to be normal.

Where they shot from, I don't know.

There was no evacuation.

The city is abandoned by everyone under fire.”

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In turn, local official Dmitry Lubinets posted on Instagram that evacuation buses could not leave due to constant shelling.

However, under this post, residents claim that officials abandoned them in a critical situation, left the city and did not organize an evacuation, so they themselves have to look for ways to leave.

“Where are you and why don’t you respond?

Got out of town already.

Help Volnovakha.

Help your people.

People are sitting in basements without communication, light, heating and food,” they write in the comments.

"Military stupidly hiding"

Judging by the stories of residents of Ukrainian cities, cases when they hide behind them like a human shield are not uncommon.

A resident of Kharkov, Galina, told RT that the nationalists deliberately hide military equipment within the city.

In addition, they smash shops and take everything they like from there, she adds: “We live on the outskirts of Kharkov.

We have one bombed-out shop open, so alcohol, cigarettes, food were taken from there.

The military are standing nearby: once they were walking with my husband, so 8-10 machine guns immediately turned on us, ”the woman says.

Another resident of Kharkov, Sergei, told RT that Ukrainian tanks and armored personnel carriers were hiding in the city center.

“My job involves frequent travel.

I see what's happening.

Russia reaches the city, turns around and leaves.

And our soldiers are stupidly hiding in the city,” the man says.

- Russia does not want to beat the civilian population and residential buildings.

Ukrainian tanks are now hiding in Kharkiv between the civilian population, standing under the bridge, in the underground parking lots in supermarkets.”

Another resident of Kharkov said that her friend could not leave the house because Ukrainian soldiers welded the door in the entrance.

“According to her, they are sitting in the stairwells in the entrance.

People can’t even leave the house,” the woman says.

She adds that Ukrainian nationalists are shooting at their own people: “It’s not the Russians who are shooting at us, but our people are shooting!

We're crawling around here."

Russian journalist and military expert, editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine Igor Korotchenko told RT that the Ukrainian military is using terrorist tactics. 

“In order to hide behind the inhabitants as a human shield, the Ukrainian nationalist battalions do not allow the civilian population to leave the besieged cities and towns.

That is, they use terrorist tactics, and in this case this happens in many places, ”the expert says.

According to him, since Ukrainian nationalists control the perimeter of settlements, they have many ways at their disposal to force the civilian population not to leave the cities.

“They have the ability to block civilians by absolutely any means, including executions on the spot.

Civilians can't do anything.

They are hostages.

When terrorists take hostages, the hostages cannot do anything,” the expert stressed.