Russian Foreign Ministry: all tasks of the operation at Azovstal were completed with minimal losses

“Mariupol, Azovstal – all the tasks have been solved.

And with minimal losses," TASS quoted him as saying.

Lavrov recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the order not to storm Azovstal.

“As a result of the siege, the notorious thugs from the Azov battalion who were there simply surrendered,” he said.

According to Lavrov, the Ukrainian Nazis who surrendered are "now giving evidence."

“I think that they will tell a lot of interesting things about how this neo-Nazi theory and practice was embodied in the daily life of the Ukrainian state, including under President (Ukraine. -

) Vladimir Zelensky,” Lavrov concluded.

On May 20, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the armed forces had completely liberated the territory of the Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol: 2,439 Ukrainian military and Azov militants had laid down their arms and surrendered.