The Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday accused nationalists from the Ukrainian Azov battalion of blowing up the theater building in the city of Mariupol. Presumably, at the time of the event there were people inside.
The Russian Defense portfolio detailed that the building had been manipulated by Azov troops just before it was blown up, at which time they placed the explosives.
In this way, the Ministry of Defense rejected the accusations of kyiv about an alleged air attack on the theater building, where civilians could have been taken as hostages.
The Russian authorities explained that the aviation under their command did not carry out missions against ground targets in Mariupol, at the same time, they added that after verifying the information with the leaders of the special military operation on the ground, Azov militants carried out the action. classified as a bloody provocation.
In this sense, the Russian Ministry of Defense explained that the refugees who escaped from Mariupol warned them that the ultra-nationalist Azov battalions could have held civilians inside the theater.
The defense portfolio also alleged that they never considered the theater as an attack target, but rather that they found it a potential danger to civilians and taking into account the provocation of March 9 at the Mariúpol hospital number three.
The Russian body concluded its statement by accusing nationalist battalions of preventing Mariupol residents from leaving the city despite agreements between Moscow and kyiv on humanitarian corridors.
Despite threats with firearms, thousands of people managed to escape from the city where a difficult humanitarian situation prevails without water, electricity, gas, or food supplies.
