“The State Department habitually misinforms its citizens”: why the United States announced the “retention of control” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Mariupol

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova denied the US State Department's assertion that Ukrainian forces allegedly still control Mariupol.

The diplomat stressed that such provocative statements by Washington only contribute to inflaming the conflict, and stated that the State Department is engaged in disinformation.

"For what?

There are several reasons.

Probably, in order to completely disorient the citizens of Ukraine, those people who are there, to call into question any opportunities for some kind of negotiation process and, of course, to make any situation of settlement based on the negotiation process simply impossible and meaningless, ”explained Zakharova .

Earlier, the speaker of the State Department, Ned Price, during a briefing, said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to control Mariupol.

“As we know, the Ukrainian military continues to hold its ground, and there is every reason to believe that what President Putin and his defense minister are showing to the media ... is another portion of disinformation straight from their battered training manual,” Price told reporters.

Commenting on his words, Maria Zakharova added that, in fact, Washington does not care about the fate of the people at the besieged Azovstal plant in Mariupol, since all the actions of the Western community are aimed only at further escalating the situation.

The diplomat stressed that the Ukrainian units are doing everything possible not to let people out of the plant, using them as human shields.

In turn, representatives of the Kyiv regime, in particular Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk, are cynically manipulating the issue of opening humanitarian corridors from the territory of Azovstal, Zakharova said on the Rossiya 24 TV channel.

Russian troops daily open corridors for the exit of civilians, they are guaranteed safety, however, both Kyiv and Washington pretend that there is no possibility for evacuation, moreover, everything is being done so that people at Azovstal continue to stay there, the representative of the Foreign Ministry emphasized.

“Irina Vereshchuk cynically pretends that she does not understand the difference between a corridor for surrender, a humanitarian corridor and the rescue of specific people in a specific situation.

She understands everything.

Just in this way, she is trying to put pressure on our military,” Zakharova wrote on Telegram.

- Irina Vereshchuk personally and those who entrust her with this, do not allow people to leave Azovstal, intimidating and blackmailing them.

Do you want people to come out?

Don't keep them.

And save their lives."

• Maria Zakharova, official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia

• RIA News

• © Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

The statement of the State Department was also commented on by the Ministry of Defense.

The official representative of the department, Igor Konashenkov, called it a fake and accused the United States of aiding terrorists at the state level.

“The procedure for the exit of civilians, if any, from the territory of Azovstal for subsequent evacuation is brought to the Nazis hourly.

This information is also communicated to representatives of the Kyiv regime through Deputy Prime Minister Vereshchuk.

The holding of Azov by the Nazis and foreign mercenaries of civilian hostages, if any, proves that they are not “defenders”, but complete terrorists, Konashenkov emphasized during the briefing.

- In this regard, the strained attempts of the speaker of the US State Department habitually lie about allegedly maintaining control over Mariupol by the Nazi rabble - a fake and direct aiding terrorists at a high state level.

The State Department habitually misinforms its own citizens, and everyone else.”

Ukraine itself, its residents in Mariupol and other cities, are of interest to Washington “only in terms of profits from the supply of weapons there” and the fight against Russia even “to the last Ukrainian,” added a representative of the Ministry of Defense.

Life returns to Mariupol

Recall that on Thursday, April 21, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Vladimir Putin about the liberation of Mariupol and the blocking of the remnants of Ukrainian formations in the industrial zone of the Azovstal metallurgical plant.

“At the time of the encirclement on March 11, the total number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, nationalist formations, as well as foreign mercenaries, who were also enough, was more than 8,100 people.

During the liberation of the city, more than 4 thousand were destroyed, 1478 surrendered.

The remaining group - more than 2 thousand - is blocked in the industrial zone of the Azovstal plant," Shoigu said.

According to him, in the two days preceding the report, no one left Azovstal through the humanitarian corridors being opened by Russian forces.

According to Shoigu, the final cleansing of the plant's territory took three to four days.

He also said that the situation in the city makes it possible to start restoring order, returning the population and establishing a peaceful life.

In turn, the head of state called the liberation of Mariupol a success and gave the order not to storm the plant.

“I consider the proposed storming of the industrial zone inappropriate.

I order you to cancel.

This is the case when we must think ... about saving the life and health of our soldiers and officers.

There is no need to climb into these catacombs and crawl underground through these industrial facilities.

Block off this industrial zone so that the fly does not fly through, ”the president ordered.

After the establishment of control over the city by Russian troops, Mariupol begins to return to civilian life.

The Ministry of Defense noted that local residents were able to move freely along the streets without hiding from the shelling of Ukrainian nationalists.

Humanitarian aid (food, water, basic necessities) is delivered to the city, and the DPR authorities organized the clearing of the streets from rubble and the removal of broken Ukrainian military equipment.

This, in particular, was told by RT correspondent Boris Kuznetsov in the RT stream "Lituchka". 

"In the treasury of strategic failures"

Against this background, the American military expert community is already expressing the opinion that official Washington does not have a complete understanding of what is actually happening in Ukraine and what is the position of the forces of the Kyiv regime.

Thus, former senior adviser to the head of the Pentagon and retired US Army Colonel Douglas MacGregor said on Fox News that the White House's expectations on the Ukrainian situation would not come true.

“I really believe that the president (Joe Biden. -

) and his advisers are convinced that in one way or another they will be able to find themselves at the negotiating table in the future, where they can dictate terms to Moscow, but this will not happen,” McGregor emphasized.

• Serviceman of the RF Armed Forces in Mariupol

• RIA News

• © Maxim Blinov

He noted that the US military equipment and weapons supplied to Ukraine will be destroyed by Russian forces, which have the ability to deliver precision strikes throughout the country.

“The Russians have never been interested in crossing the Dnieper.

Their interest has always been in the destruction of the Ukrainian forces, and this task has almost been completed.

So, it seems to me, the bitter truth is that this is a proxy war, in which we send a huge number of Ukrainians to their deaths without any real hope for any important result for them, ”the former American military leader stated.

A similar point of view on the situation was expressed by experts interviewed by RT.

“Huge funds were thrown into the defense of Mariupol, and now it will be necessary to report that they were wasted.

I think that those who allocated these funds, primarily the American congressmen, will have questions.

This is what the US State Department, the Biden administration and the Pentagon are afraid of, ”said Alexei Mukhin, director general of the Center for Political Information.

He added that the State Department is making statements that run counter to reality in order to mislead Ukrainians and prolong the conflict.

In turn, Konstantin Blokhin, a leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted that with his statements, Washington is trying to create the impression that Russia is allegedly not conducting a special operation very effectively thanks to the efforts of Washington.

“American hawks criticize Biden and demand more radical action against the Russian Federation.

In response to criticism, White House administration officials are trying to create the appearance that Ukraine is waging an extremely effective war precisely because of the American support that Joe Biden provides to it, ”the RT interlocutor emphasized.

He added that the liberation of such an important city as Mariupol by Russian forces is a very inconvenient moment for the Kyiv regime and the US administration, especially in the context of the start of the second phase of the Russian special operation.

“The US wants to look like a winner.

They want to show that Biden is extremely successful in his foreign policy adventure to support Ukraine.

But he had many failures, especially Afghanistan.

And since Ukraine is already being written off as one of his strategic failures, he wants to give the appearance of success.

Kyiv is trying to buy time, hoping to get even more support from the West, ”the expert concluded.