Moscow-Sana
A Russian military source estimated that there are more than 200 civilians being held by militants under the buildings of the Azovstal factory in the city of Mariupol, which has become the last enclave of Ukrainian forces and Nazi extremists who are fighting with them in the city.
A source in the leadership of the operation to liberate the Azovstal factory told RIA Novosti news agency, "Despite the success of President Vladimir Putin's initiative, which was implemented on May 1, with the support of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to remove more than 100 civilians detained by the Nazis from the Azovstal factory, the situation there is still difficult."
"This is due, above all, to the fact that extremist militants from the Azov battalion may forcibly hold more than 200 civilians, including women, children and the elderly, in the many basements of the factory," the source added.
Mariupol, the largest city overlooking the Sea of Azov, has witnessed fierce battles since the start of the Russian military operation, during which the forces of Russia and the Donetsk People's Republic managed to control the entire city, with the exception of the Azovstal factory.
The Russian President ordered the Russian forces not to storm the factory and continue to besiege it, while the group of extremist Ukrainian forces holed up inside it still refuses to surrender, knowing that the factory includes a complex network of underground facilities.
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