The DPR announced taking control of the port in Mariupol
The representative of the People's Militia of the DPR Eduard Basurin revealed the details of the upcoming plan to storm the Mariupol Azovstal plant. There are premises of former warehouses under the buildings of the complex, so the military plans to first block it along the perimeter, and then seek help from chemical troops. On the morning of April 11, the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin announced that the pace of the special operation would be accelerated. Later, the republic reported that they had taken the port of Mariupol under full control.
The representative of the People's Militia of the DPR, Eduard Basurin, said that the capture of the Mariupol Azovstal plant would require the help of "chemical troops" due to the peculiarities of the building.
"There are underground floors, so it makes no sense to take this object by storm. Because you can put a large number of your soldiers, and the enemy will not suffer losses as such," he said on the air of Channel One (quoted by RIA Novosti).
The military suggested first blocking the plant along the perimeter. "At the moment, we need to deal with the blocking of this plant, find all the exits and entrances - in principle, it is possible to do this. And after that, I think we should turn to the chemical troops," he added.
The Azovstal building is now occupied by servicemen of the Ukrainian regular units and the Azov National Guard regiment. The day before, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, published a video with a prisoner of war, who told about 200-300 foreign mercenaries who are also at the plant. Fighters of "Azov", according to him, there are "1500-2000". It is not known how many people there are on the territory of the enterprise.
According to Basurin, "no one can name the exact figure." "This data is only preliminary - three, maybe four thousand, maybe three and a half. Believe me, this is a big figure for a well-fortified area," he said.
The Ukrainian military regularly makes attempts to break out of the encirclement, Basurin stressed. "They are constantly making attempts. As far as I know, the attempts are unsuccessful," the representative of the DPR said.
According to him, the DPR forces are pushing Ukrainian units towards the industrial zone where Azovstal and Azovmash are located. "They are still resisting. Well, the remaining ones are all trying to go to Azovstal. Azovstal is a fortress in the city," he concluded.
The Azovstal Metallurgical Plant was founded in 1933. There are warehouses under the building. Basurin previously called the industrial zone a "city within a city" with a dungeon built during the Soviet Union.
Port of Mariupol
The Mariupol port came under the control of the DPR forces on April 11, the head of the republic Denis Pushilin also said on the air of the "First". According to him, the resistance in Mariupol remained only on the territory of the factories.
"With regard to the port of Mariupol, it is already under our control," he said.
Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the Ukrainian cargo ship Apache tried to break into the port of Mariupol, blocked by the Black Sea Fleet, at night to evacuate members of the Azov regiment and foreign mercenaries from there. Last night, the column of the Armed Forces of Ukraine tried to escape from Mariupol, putting the DNR identification marks on its equipment, said the commander of the Vostok battalion, Alexander Khodakovsky.
This morning Pushilin warned that the pace of the special operation in Donbass will be accelerated. He did not disclose details, but clarified that "very soon everything will be visible in real time."
"Now, taking into account all the factors that are caused by the difficult situation in which people are, as well as provocative measures on the part of the Ukrainian regime, including the shelling of Kramatorsk, we consider it necessary to intensify the course of the liberation operation," the head of the DPR said.
On April 8, Ramzan Kadyrov announced that the Russian Armed Forces control 98% of the territory of Mariupol and are drawing up a plan for a decisive assault.
Leonid Tsvetaev
