Evacuation of civilians continues in Mariupol

17 марта 2022
A humanitarian evacuation operation continues in Mariupol. More than 31 thousand people were evacuated through humanitarian corridors during one day. About 11 thousand residents stay in Zaporozhye. It is reported that the Ukrainian side shelled a convoy with refugees in the direction of Kharkov, four people were killed. 

The Russian Defense Ministry strongly denies Kiev’s accusations of an air strike on the Mariupol Drama Theater, where people could have been held hostage. The false information dispersed throughout the Ukrainian media about the deaths of 1,500 people turned out to be false. People are coming out of the shelter alive.  

In addition, the Defense Ministry said that the Ukrainian military, with the support of Western countries, was preparing a provocation using toxic substances against civilians. 

Igor Konashenkov, official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry:
We reliably know that with the support of Western countries, the SBU is preparing a provocation with the use of poisonous substances against civilians. The purpose of the provocation is to accuse Russia of using chemical weapons against the population of Ukraine. There are no Russian servicemen in Chernigov.

And as the representative of the Ministry of Defense emphasized, Russia, unlike the U.S., has completely destroyed all chemical weapons stockpiles, fulfilling its international obligations. And among the captured military documentation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, there was a detailed map of Ukraine with the facilities and types of stored toxic substances on it. Therefore, any attempt of provocation by the Ukrainian side with the use of poisonous substances will inevitably be uncovered.