The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation announced a "repetition of the Mariupol scenario" at the Azot plant in Severodonetsk
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that Kiev asked to organize a humanitarian corridor to Lisichansk for the exit of civilians from the Azot plant in Severodonetsk. The ministry said that the Russian military will not be able to fulfill this request because of the blown-up bridge, but they are ready to evacuate civilians in the direction of Svatovo - that is, in the LPR. According to various estimates, there may be from 500 to 800 civilians and more than 2.5 thousand military personnel on the territory of the enterprise.
The Ukrainian military appealed to the Russian side with a request to provide a humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of civilians from the Azot plant in Severodonetsk to Lisichansk controlled by Kiev, said Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the National Defense Control Center of the Russian Federation.
According to various estimates, there may be from 500 to 800 civilians on the territory of the enterprise, some of whom began to leave the territory of the plant on June 11.
In his opinion, Ukraine asked for the organization of a humanitarian corridor, "realizing the hopelessness of the situation of its" armed forces. He also said that the Ukrainian military, retreating from the residential quarters of Severodonetsk, brought hundreds of civilians out of the city into the industrial zone of the enterprise in order to "hide behind them as a human shield."
"Taking into account the fact that on June 13, by order of the Kiev authorities, in order to prevent the retreat of territorial defense units, the Armed Forces of Ukraine blew up the last bridge across the Seversky Donets River towards Lisichansk, it is not possible to conduct a safe evacuation in this direction," the ministry said.
The response of the Russian side
In response to Kiev's proposal, Mizintsev said that the servicemen of the Russian Federation and the LPR are ready to organize the evacuation of civilians to the city of Svatovo - to the territory of the LPR.
The ministry called on the Ukrainian military at Azot to stop fighting and lay down their weapons. According to mizintsev, Russia guarantees to the servicemen at the plant the preservation of life and compliance with all the norms of the Geneva Convention in case of voluntary surrender.
"The actual readiness of the Ukrainian side to start a humanitarian operation is indicated by raising white flags," Mizintsev added.
The assistant to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the LPR, Vitaly Kiselyov, said that 2.5 thousand Ukrainian servicemen were blocked at Azot - up to 25% of them are foreign mercenaries. According to him, up to 500-600 people arrived in Ukraine from different countries, including Georgia, Poland, Colombia, Great Britain and the Baltic states.
What's going on at Azot
Severodonetsk was one of the last two major cities that remained outside the control of the LPR authorities (the second city is Lisichansk). The fighting for it went on in March, but the most active military operations began in May.
On June 7, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced taking control of residential areas of the city and fighting in the industrial zone and nearby settlements.
According to him, the Ukrainian military demanded to give them the opportunity to leave the territory of the chemical plant together with civilians and provide a corridor for the transition to Lisichansk. Miroshnik called these demands unacceptable.
Yulia Skurigina and Valery Boychenko, who worked at Azot, told Izvestia that there are huge bomb shelters at the enterprise, in which many of those who have not left the city are currently located. They noted that employees of the chemical enterprise mostly remain in bomb shelters.
In turn, Lieutenant Colonel of the People's Militia of the LPR Andrei Marochko reported on the catastrophic situation of the Ukrainian military blocked at the Azot plant. He claims that for the safe evacuation of people, "green corridors" should be opened in the direction of Svatovo.
A similar situation developed earlier at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol. On May 20, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, after almost three months of confrontation, announced the seizure of the territory of the plant. Then 2,439 Ukrainian servicemen laid down their arms and surrendered, and humanitarian corridors were organized for civilians.
What is known about the Azot enterprise
The Severodonetsk Azot plant is the third largest Ukrainian ammonia producer and one of the largest chemical industry enterprises in Europe. The plant produced nitrogen fertilizers, methanol, acetic acid, acetylene, formalin, catalysts and household chemicals, as well as other chemical products.
The plant was put into operation on February 16, 1951 as a complex for the production of mineral fertilizers. Azot occupies slightly less than half of the territory of Severodonetsk (42.1 sq. km).
Local resident Irina Semiryazhko told in an interview with URA.RU, that on the territory of the enterprise there are not only dozens of industrial buildings and workshops, but also specialized bomb shelters.
The woman said that in the Soviet years more than 10 thousand people worked at the plant, but gradually their number decreased.
Since 2011, the plant has been part of the Ostchem holding, which is part of the assets of Ukrainian businessman Dmitry Firtash (25th place in the Forbes rating "100 richest Ukrainians of 2021").
The management of Group DF (which includes the company) on March 1 stated that "Nitrogen" is not dangerous for residents of the city.
"The remains of finished products (fertilizers) and chemicals located on the territory of the plant were completely removed from the territory of the enterprise outside the Luhansk region. The plant security service conducted a full additional inspection of all production workshops and warehouses for the presence of dangerous chemicals, there are no such substances on the site," they said.
Alice Andreeva
