Attempts to evacuate foreign mercenaries and the leaders of the Azov Regiment from Mariupol continue. The next one was taken on the evening of April 8, said at a briefing the official representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Major General Igor Konashenkov.
According to him, the evacuation involved the Ukrainian cargo ship “Apache”, a Maltese-flagged ship that deviates from its course when crossing the Taganrog Bay to the Kerch Strait.
“At 22 hours 38 minutes Moscow time, 30 kilometers southeast of Mariupol, the ship suddenly changed course and tried to break into the Black Sea Fleet-blocked port of Mariupol,” he said, adding that the ship continued to sail in direction the port, ignoring the requests of Russian border ships to get in touch through an international channel.
It is noted that the warning artillery fire did not lead to a change of course. The ship, Konashenkov said, as it approached the port, made a radio exchange while signal lights could be seen on the shore.
Gen. Konashenkov also said that artillery fire was opened on the vessel to block it, which led to an outbreak of stern fire.
The “Ukrainian cargo ship” then drifted, the crew contacted the border ships with a request for a ceasefire and confirmed their readiness to comply with all orders of Russian sailors.
“There are no casualties among the crew members. The ship’s crew extinguished the fire itself. “After an inspection, the Ukrainian ship was escorted to the port of Eisk,” he said. Konashenkov.
There is currently no information about such an incident in Ukrainian information sources.
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