Russia allegedly conquered a steel plant in Mariupol; Kiev: Russians exhume the dead – Teraz.sk

KIEV / MOSCOW, April 15 (TASR) – The Russian military claims that it has gained complete control of a steel plant in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which was controlled by the Ukrainian armed forces. According to Ukrainian authorities, Russian soldiers in Mariupol have begun digging out the bodies of the victims in an attempt to cover up their war crimes. TASR has taken over these reports from DPA and Sky News. Due to the situation in besieged Mariupol, which has been the cause of difficult fighting for weeks, they could not be independently verified. “Attacks by Russian armed forces and Donetsk People’s Republic troops in Mariupol have completely liberated Ijlych’s steelworks from Ukrainian nationalists,” said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenko. The Ukrainian side has not yet confirmed this claim. The commander of the 36th Naval Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Serhiy Volyn, who puts steadfast opposition to Russian superiority in the city, admitted that the situation of the defenders was “critical”. According to him, only a quick military operation would help the besieged Ukrainian soldiers, which would break the Russian blockade or a possible political solution to the situation in Mariupol. Ukrainian troops in Mariupol said on Monday that they were probably preparing for their “last battle” because they were under siege and running out of ammunition. Intense fighting in Mariupol is concentrated in the vicinity of the Azovstaľ metallurgical plant, near which there is also Illič’s steelworks. The Russians are still resisted by the remnants of the 36th Marine Brigade and the Azov Special Forces.
In the picture from April 13, 2022, the building was damaged during the fighting in Mariupol. Photo: TASR / AP
Mariupol City Council said on Friday that Russian soldiers were beginning to dig up the bodies of victims who had been buried in previous weeks near the apartment blocks. It is not clear why the bodies are exhumed or what happens to them next. According to Ukrainian authorities, the Russian army has transported 13 mobile crematoria to the city. There are therefore fears that Russia wants to destroy the evidence of war crimes committed by its troops in Mariupol in this way. “But they will not succeed. The whole world already knows about the numerous crimes of the Russian army in Mariupol,” the Mariupol City Council said in a statement. In addition, Russian soldiers are preventing the Mariupolians from burying civilians killed by Russian forces around their homes.