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LPR militia says no evacuation from Azot plant possible amid Ukrainian shelling

People hiding at the plant have been unable to get out for water for five days already, local militia officer Andrey Marochko also noted

MOSCOW, June 15. /TASS/. No evacuation of civilians from the Azot chemicals plant in Severodonetsk is possible now amid shelling attacks by Ukrainian forces, a local militia officer said during an on-air broadcast of the Rossiya 24 television channel.

"Since 11:00 am, Ukrainian troops have been bombarding Severodonetsk with mortars and tank fire. No evacuation from the plant is currently possible," said Andrey Marochko from the Lugansk People’s Republic’s militia.

Therefore, Ukrainian militants have been making attempts to thwart an evacuation, he wrote on his Telegram channel.

During a Channel One TV broacast, Marochko said there was no motion whatsoever at the plant as of 11:30 am (coincides with Moscow time - TASS), but he said the situation could change and that officers would remain on duty till 8 pm anyway.

The militia man also said people hiding at the plant had been unable to get out for water for five days already.

On Tuesday, a senior Russian military official announced that Russia’s armed forces on Wednesday would open a humanitarian corridor towards Svatovo, a city in the LPR, to have locals evacuated from the Azot plant. Colonel General Mikhail Mizintsev, the chief of Russia’s National Defense Management Center, pledged to ensure a safe evacuation for all civilians.

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