Intelligence on Mariupol: Putin will deploy Russian Guards and Federal Security Service in Azovstal
Valentyna Romanenko – Friday, 22 April 2022, 14:14
According to Ukrainian intelligence, Putin is planning to deploy Russian Guards and the personnel of the Russian Federal Security Service to continue the assault of the Azovstal plant in the besieged Mariupol, which is still held by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Source: Vadym Skibitskyi, Representative of the Central Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, during a 24/7 national joint newscast on 22 April
Details: Reporters asked Skibitskyi to comment on the information that President Vladimir Putin of Russia did not support the proposition of Sergey Shoigu, Russian Minister of Defence, to carry out an intensified assault on the Azovstal plant. Skibitskyi said that the Russian leaders are, as always, being dishonest.
According to Skibitskyi: "It’s true that they might abandon the idea of a large-scale assault on Azovstal. But according to our data, they plan to deploy Russian Guards and other parts of the military apparatus, including the Federal Security Service, to continue their assault on the plant and destroy our resistance."
Earlier: Serhii Volynskyi (Volyna), Commander of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade of the Ukrainian Navy, called on foreign countries to urgently undertake an "extraction" of people from Mariupol; that is, to evacuate several hundred military personnel and civilians to a safe place in order to save them from Russian troops.
Background:
- Mariupol has been under siege since 1 March. On 12 April, some of the Ukrainian Marines were able to break through from the Ilyich plant to the Azov Regiment at the Azovstal plant, and some were taken prisoner.
- The Russian army continues dropping bombs on the Azovstal plant. On 19 April, Sviatoslav Palamar (Kalyna), Deputy Commander of the Azov Regiment, said that the Azovstal plant had been almost completely destroyed and that Ukrainian soldiers were trying to rescue people from under the rubble.
- The Russian Defence Ministry asked Ukrainian defenders stationed at Azovstal to lay down their arms and surrender several times.
- The Pentagon explained that Russia wants to control Mariupol because of its strategic location; control of the city would ensure unimpeded land access from Donbas to Crimea.
