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Kiev prohibits people from leaving Azovstal, intimidates and blackmails them — diplomat

Earlier, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereschuk accused Russia of denying humanitarian corridor for evacuation of civilians

MOSCOW, April 22. /TASS/. Kiev regime prohibits people from using the humanitarian corridor provided by Russian forces and from leaving the Azovstal plant, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Friday.

She made this comment in response to remarks made by Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereschuk, who accused Russia of denying humanitarian corridor for evacuation of civilians.

"Irina Vereschuk personally and those who give her orders prohibit people from leaving Azovstal, they intimidate and blackmail them. Do you want the people to come out? Don’t hold them. You will save their lives," Zakharova said in her Telegram channel Friday. "Irina Vereschuk cynically pretends that she does not understand the difference between a humanitarian corridor for surrender, and a humanitarian corridor to save concrete people in a concrete situation. She understands everything. She just seeks to exert pressure on our forces this way," the diplomat noted.

Russian National Defense Control Center head Mikhail Mizintsev also said Friday that Russia is ready to declare a humanitarian pause at any moment for evacuation of civilians, if there are any at the Azovstal plant, and for surrender of Ukrainian forces and nationalist battalion militants.

On Thursday, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu reported to President Vladimir Putin that humanitarian corridors were prepared for civilians that may still be present at the Azovstal plant, but nobody used them. He added that Russian forces evacuated over 100 people from the nearby territory within several days.

Previously, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov reported that the remaining Ukrainian forces group of about 2,500 combatants has been blockaded at the Azovstal plant, while the rest of the city has been cleared completely. According to Konashenkov, combatants at Azovstal include Ukrainian armed forces, Azov nationalist battalion militants and foreign mercenaries. Russian forces urged them to surrender repeatedly.

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