“Thanks to the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, 80 civilians, including women and children, held by Ukrainian nationalists, were rescued from the territory of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol,” the ministry said.
The Russian military and the forces of the DPR opened a humanitarian corridor for civilians and maintained a regime of silence.
All liberated civilians were evacuated to Bezymennoe of the Donetsk People's Republic, where they were provided with accommodation, food and medical assistance.
“Civilians evacuated by Russian servicemen from the Azovstal plant who wished to leave for areas controlled by the Kyiv regime have been handed over to representatives of the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross,” the defense ministry added.
As previously recalled in the Kremlin, there is nothing to discuss in the situation around the evacuation from the territory of the Azovstal plant: civilians are leaving, and the military are laying down their arms, Russian President Vladimir Putin clearly said this.