MOSCOW, April 8. /TASS/. Ukrainian nationalists continue to keep hostage more than 6,300 foreign citizens from 13 countries, Mikhail Mizintsev, chief of Russia’s National Defense Management Center, said on Friday.

"Ukrainian nationalists continue to keep hostage as a human shield 6,362 foreign nationals from 13 countries," he said.

He also said that more than 19,600 people, including more than 3,300 children, were evacuated from dangerous regions in Ukraine, and from the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics to Russia during the day.

"Despite the difficulties and obstacles created by Kiev, during the day, as many as 19,612 people, including 3,356 children, were evacuated from dangerous zones in various Ukrainian regions, and from the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics to Russia. Since the beginning of the special military operation a total of 677,758 people, including 131,706 children, have been evacuated," he said.

According to Mizintsev, some 2,920 private cars crossed the Russian border on Friday and 86,980 since the beginning of the operation.

The Ukrainian side is deliberately hampering evacuation from Mariupol via humanitarian corridors opened by Russia as part of its response to Germany’s Turkey’s and France’s humanitarian initiatives, Mizintsev said.

According to Mizintsev, Russia’s armed forces open humanitarian corridors from Kharkov and Mariupol every day. Apart from that, an additional humanitarian corridor is daily opened as part of the response to Germany’s, Turkey’s and France’s humanitarian initiatives from Mariupol to Berdyansk, from where they can take surface transport for Crimea or Zaporozhye, or sea-going transport to other destinations.

"The Ukrainian side has confirmed the security of this humanitarian corridor not a single time and continues to deliberately hamper the implementation of these humanitarian initiatives," he said.

Militants of nationalist units have mined storage facilities with toxic chemicals at a coke plant in Avdeyevka and plan to blow them up when forces of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) approach the city, Mizintsev, said.

"In Avdeyevka, militants of nationalist units have prepared a barbaric provocation with mass poisoning of residents of adjacent areas by toxic chemicals. For these ends, neo-Nazis have mined the coke plant’s storage facilities holding toxic chemicals and plan to blow them up when units of the Donetsk People’s Republic approach the city," he said.