Russian troops to ban movement in Mariupol for ‘infiltration’ operation

Kiev, April 16 (IANS) Russian troops in Ukraine’s Mariupol will close all entries and exits to the city and also prohibit movement there from Monday, in order to carry out “infiltration” operation among the city’s male population, some of whom will be mobilised, Petro Andriushchenko, Advisor to the Mariupol Mayor, posted on Telegram.

He said: “Occupiers report that on Monday they will not only finally close all entries and exits to the city for everyone, but will institute a ban for movement across all neighbourhoods for a week. During this time, 100 per cent of the city’s remaining male population will be “filtered”. To this end, they will all be moved to Novoazovsk.

“Some of the people are going to be mobilised to the Russian occupation corps, some will be forcibly deployed to clear the rubble, and those classified as unreliable will be isolated.”

According to Andriushchenko, the Russian troops are planning to allow only those men and women to remain in the city who will serve essential needs. The Mariupol authorities said that this is due to the inability of the Russian troops to maintain even the minimal living condition for civilians in the city, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.

Andriushchenko noted that the “infiltration” procedure is already at full speed.

Men at infiltration camps and checkpoints are first interrogated (which might include staged shooting), then their bodies are scanned and cell phones are examined. Those who do not “pass” the test will be taken to Dokuchaievsk and Donetsk.

Andriushchenko added that the conflict in Mariupol is getting worse as the Russian occupiers are deploying all available resources to storm the city, Ukrayinska Pravda reported.

The usage of TU bombers indicate the intention of the Russians to blast the Azovstal plant and Mariupol seaport.

Highlighting the fake information spread by Russian troops, he said: “To lift the spirits of the occupiers and intimidate the people of Mariupol, they announced the arrest of a NATO general in Mariupol and spread false information about the “atrocities of Azov and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

The humanitarian situation in Mariupol continues to be deteriorating in the absence of doctors in the city. Here medicine is also distributed chaotically and “without so much as a glimpse at a prescription or medical records,” the Mayor’s Advisor added. – IANS