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Ceasefire violations disrupt evacuation from Azot plant - Russian Defense Ministry

According to Mizintsev, indiscriminate fire on residential neighborhoods of Severodonetsk with the use of 120 mm mortars was reported from 08:00 Moscow local time, and tank guns were used from 09:40

MOSCOW, June 15./TASS/. Kiev authorities cynically thwarted the evacuation of civilians from the Azot plant in Severodonetsk via a humanitarian corridor to the town of Svatovo, Mikhail Mizintsev, chief of Russia’s National Defense Management Center, said on Wednesday.

Mizintsev pointed to numerous ceasefire violations during the humanitarian operation. "Despite the unprecedented measures taken by the Russian Federation, Kiev authorities cynically disrupted the humanitarian operation. Means of objective control, including unmanned aerial vehicles, recorded numerous violations of the ceasefire," said Mizintsev, who heads the Russian Joint Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response in Ukraine.

According to him, indiscriminate fire on residential neighborhoods of Severodonetsk with the use of 120 mm mortars was reported from 08:00 Moscow local time, and tank guns were used from 09:40.

"Militants used the humanitarian pause to regroup to more advantageous positions and restore fighting capacity, using civilians as human shields," Mizintsev said.

The Russian army and the Lugansk People’s Republic’s militia on Wednesday will open a humanitarian corridor towards Svatovo, in the LPR, for the evacuation of civilians from the Azot chemical combine in Severodonetsk, Mizintsev said on Tuesday.

"Guided by humanitarian principles, Russia’s armed forces and the Lugansk People's Republic militia are ready to carry out a humanitarian operation to evacuate civilians. For this, starting from 08:00 (Moscow time) to 20:00 (Moscow time) on June 15, 2022, a humanitarian corridor will be open in the northern direction (towards the city of Svatovo, the Lugansk People's Republic)," he said.

Mizintsev stressed that the Russian army and the LPR militia guaranteed the safe evacuation of all civilians.

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