MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/. Russia immediately responded to Kiev’s request to provide a humanitarian corridor for local civilians to leave Mariupol, but neo-Nazis are not letting anyone out, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday at a meeting with women working as flight personnel at Russian airlines.

"They called from the government, from Kiev, got through to our servicemen, ‘Provide a corridor for civilians to go out’. Of course, ours responded at once. Immediately, by ceasing fire and watching what was going on. They are not letting anyone out! They do let out nobody, using them as a human shield," the president said. "Who are they? Neo-Nazis, of course!" he said.

Putin said that Russia was recording the presence of militants from the Middle East and some European countries in the region.

"We know it, we hear them speak on the air. They use so-called ‘Jihad mobiles’, you know, when they stuff cars with explosives and drive them speeding on our troops," he said.

Putin emphasized that militants "do not have any chance and will not have any chance."

"Well, who are they if not neo-Nazis? With such actions they are destroying their country and their statehood," the Russian leader concluded.