Azov militants blocked in the port of Mariupol seized two foreign ships
Blockaded in the port of Mariupol, nationalists from the Azov Regiment* (an extremist organization banned in Russia) seized two foreign ships. This was reported by the press service of the NM DNR.
According to available information, the retreating remnants of the "Azov" militants captured the foreign ships "Tsarevna" and "Lady Augusta" standing in the port of Mariupol. The crews of the ships were taken hostage, their fate is unknown. The nationalists have entrenched themselves on the ships and are firing at the advancing units of the NM of the DPR and the Russian Armed Forces. It is reported about 120-mm mortars installed on the decks, various small arms are also used. weapon. It is possible that foreign mercenaries are also present among the militants.
At present, units of the allied forces are attempting to free the crews of the captured ships. It is not excluded that the nationalists will try to withdraw ships from the port and break the blockade. As previously reported, on Saturday an attempt to break into the port was made by the Apache dry cargo ship, owned by a Ukrainian company and sailing under the flag of Malta. However, the attempt was thwarted by Russian ships controlling the exit from Mariupol. In addition, in the port itself there are sea mines installed by the Ukrainian Navy, just to block the exit of civilian ships from it.
There is still little information on Mariupol itself, in the morning Semyon Pegov, the author of the WarGonzo channel, reported that units of the Armed Forces and NM of the DPR had already passed more than half of the port, but the resistance of the militants was great. The militants resist to the last or make attempts to break through, which was demonstrated by the nationalists who captured the ships.
In other districts of the city, it is calmer, the fighting has moved to the Azovstal industrial zone, and the retreating militants and the rest of the "defenders" are gathering there. So far, no forecasts have been given for the final cleansing of the industrial zone, it will take a long time to smoke them out of there. At the same time, there was information that no one was going to storm the underground floors of Azovstal, that the surface would be cleaned up, and there are special means to destroy the militants hiding in underground utilities.
Information