Russia accuses Kyiv's Azov battalion of using 150 civilians as human shield in Mariupol

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday accused Ukraine’s Azov Battalion, a paramilitary group that is now part of Ukrainian security services, of holding civilians hostages as ‘human shields’ in Mariupol, and not allowing them a safe passage via the humanitarian corridors. In footage shared by the ministry a desperate Ukrainian family that somehow managed to escape, corroborated the accusation against the Ukrainian national battalions.

Meanwhile, in another conflicting claim, Mariupol’s city council blamed Russian forces attacking the city as the reason that the civilian convoys could not exit the warzones. “It is extremely dangerous to take people out under such conditions,” the city council argued in a statement, blaming the Russian soldiers. 

In the shocking visuals shared by Moscow’s Foreign Ministry, the family appeared to tell the Russian soldiers that despite all the efforts and the humanitarian corridors agreed by Moscow with Ukraine, civilians were not allowed to leave. Ukrainian forces fired at their own citizens who attempted to escape in Mariupol, they said. “Only a few families managed to escape,” the man was heard saying in the visuals. 

Russia also claimed that families have reported Ukraine service members installing a BM-21 Grad in the courtyard of residential buildings to deter the civilians from vacating the area. The Russian State-affiliated media cited accounts of the Ukrainian civilians that managed to flee. Ukraine’s Army used more than 150 Mariupol residents as a human shield, they reportedly claimed. As the intense shelling continued, four civilians were killed, and five others were wounded badly.

An official from the Russian-backed Donetsk self-declared republic in eastern Ukraine, Eduard Basurin, accused Ukrainian forces of refusing to guarantee compliance with the ceasefire and holding civilians hostage despite the establishment of a humanitarian corridor. The city of Mariupol was pounded with heavy shelling from the Russian forces, who encircled the city of 400,000 residents.

Emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in Ukraine in a statement informed that there have been heavy attacks from the Russian forces in Mariupol, Ukraine, and the humanitarian corridors have not been able to help the civilians to escape from areas of violent warfare. “We know how dangerous this can be for civilians who are not able or willing to leave, including medical staff that choose to remain to take care of sick and wounded people,” MSF said. 

“Every situation is different, but in our decades of experience working in situations of war we know that one-off humanitarian corridors can be helpful, but are not enough,” Stephen Cornish, General Director of MSF said. 

"We call for the rules of war to be observed by all the military fighting in this war in Ukraine; to take all precautions to avoid harming civilians and to consider civilians as civilians at all times and in all places in the country."

150 civilians used as human shields: Russia's Defense Ministry Spokesman

In a statement to Russian media, Defense Ministry Spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said: "Yesterday, at about 17:00 Moscow time, forces of the DPR [Donetsk People’s Republic] were confronted with a unit of Ukrainian armed nationalists in Victory Avenue in Mariupol.

The militants were pushing more than 150 civilians ahead of them, using them as a human shield.” He went on to claim that Ukraine’s Army opened fire on the DPR people’s militia from behind civilians who were being used as shields. Some of the fighters, he stated, managed to bring the civilians to the Vinogradnoye district from Mariupol to the territory under their control. 

In another shocking development, US officials have revealed that Russia is now recruiting Syrian militia skilled in urban combat to fight in Ukraine, WSJ first reported. Moscow is poised to expand its military offensive deeper into the urban cities,  officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said, referring to an American assessment. Russia, which has been operating inside Syria since 2015, has in recent days been recruiting fighters from there, hoping their expertise in urban combat can help take Kyiv and deal a devastating blow to the Ukraine government, four American officials told the newspaper’s investigative team. 

Russia on Monday declared a ceasefire in the areas of Kyiv, Mariupol, Kharkiv, and Sumy effective 10 am (Moscow time)  to allow the civilian population to flee the combat regions. But as thousands of civilians remained stranded in the conflict, Ukrainians and Russians launched accusations against each other for violating the agreed ceasefire. “Amid devastating scenes of human suffering in Mariupol, a second attempt today to start evacuating an estimated 200,000 people out of the city came to a halt,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement. The ceasefire was supposed to last from noon until 9 pm local time (19:00 GMT) to allow civilians to move from Mariupol to the Zaporizhzhia area.