/ Go to the mediabankIn this handout video grab released by the Russian Defence Ministry, Ukrainian soldiers of the Azov battalion who have surrendered at the Azovstal steel plant walk on a road in the Russia-controlled port city of Mariupol, Donetsk People’s Republic / Go to the mediabankInternationalIndiaAfricaLast year on 7 March, Russian forces and units of the Donetsk people’s republic surrounded Mariupol and by 21 April had liberated almost the entire city.Aleksandr Sykylynda, a militant of the Azov Battalion*, has shown Russian law enforcers in Mariupol where and how his unit opened fire on a civilian car, killing a family: a woman, a man and a child.According to him, in March 2022, a squad of five Azov fighters was in Mariupol, in a building at Kuindzhi street.Sykylynda said that a vehicle was spotted around 300 meters from their position. He said that the commander gave the order to open fire.
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The car bore a sign reading ‘Children’ and there was a family in the car – a man and a woman in their thirties and a child aged about 10.Sykylynda said that after the car had stopped they saw there were no signs of life in the car which they searched and from which they removed about $1,000 in valuables. Then they picked up the bodies and took them to a nearby building and left them there.On 7 March 2022, Russian troops and units of the Donetsk people’s republic surrounded Mariupol and by 21 April had liberated almost the entire city. More than 2,000 Ukrainian servicemen and Azov fighters managed to blockade the Azovstal plant. They began surrendering in mid-May, and on 20 May the Russian Defense Ministry announced the complete liberation of the city.* A terrorist organization banned in Russia.