Putin compared the Ukrainian military holding civilians at Azovstal with terrorists

“We hear from the Ukrainian authorities that there (at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol. -

) there are civilians.

But then the servicemen of the Ukrainian army are obliged to release them.

Or they then act like terrorists in many countries of the world, like ISIS * in Syria, hiding behind the civilian population, ”Putin said.

He also recalled that the Azovstal plant is completely isolated, there are no hostilities.

“We are in contact with them.

With those who sit there, in the dungeons of Azovstal,” Putin specified.

On April 21, Putin ordered the assault on the Azovstal industrial zone to be cancelled.

At the same time, he ordered "to block the industrial zone so that the fly does not fly."

The Russian Defense Ministry later stated that all the remnants of the Ukrainian Azov fighters, along with foreign mercenaries from the United States and Europe, were securely blocked on the territory of Azovstal.

* "Islamic State" (ISIS, ISIL) - the organization was recognized as a terrorist organization by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2014.