The Russian military said, on Tuesday, that it had shot down two Ukrainian helicopters in an effort to evacuate the leaders of a national battalion defending the besieged port of Mariupol, while again calling on these defenders to lay down their arms.
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This morning, April 5, around Mariupol, a new attempt by the Kyiv regime to evacuate the leaders of the Azov National Battalion was thwarted. Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that two Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopters that were trying to reach the city by sea were shot down by portable anti-aircraft systems.
The latter confirmed that Moscow suggested Tuesday morning that the Ukrainian fighters lay down their weapons and leave the city “by an agreed route” towards the area under the control of Kyiv.
According to him, the Ukrainian army “ignored” this proposal. “Since Kyiv is not interested in the possibility of saving the lives of its soldiers, then Mariupol will be liberated from the nationalists,” added Igor Konashenkov.
Last week, he had already confirmed that the Russian army had shot down over the Sea of Azov a Ukrainian helicopter that had come to evacuate the commanders of the Azov Battalion, which had been fiercely defending Mariupol for weeks.
