April 13^th, 2022

1. Mass surrender of Ukrainian Marines

1,026 service members of Ukraine’s 36th Marines Brigade have surrendered in Mariupol, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on April 13th 2022.

According to a Russian military report, the troops laid down arms at the Illich Steel and Iron Works, a giant metal mill they were using as a stronghold against Russian forces. The mass surrender followed a report by the Russian Defense Ministry, which said around 100 Ukrainian marines enhanced by tanks and ACVs have made an attempt to break out from the factory, but failed.

A total of 1,026 service members, including 162 officers, were among the captives, ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said. He said 47 of the troops were female. 151 wounded Ukrainian servicemen of the 36th Marine Brigade received primary medical care immediately on the spot, after that they were all taken to the Mariupol city hospital for further treatment.  The Ukrainian POWs denied rumors that nerve gases or chemical agents have been used against them. But they have revealed other reasons of their surrender.

A desperate message was posted on the 36th Brigade’s social media channels on April 11th. The text claimed the unit had been neglected by the Ukrainian military leadership, who left the soldiers to fight and die without any assistance despite opportunities to do so. “For over a month the marines fought with no supplies of ammo, without food, without water, pretty much drinking from puddles, and died in droves,” the message read. 

So far, no Ukrainian POW has ever lodged complaints of his or her mistreatment by Russian Armed Forces, the DPR and LPR troops.

Russia will perceive convoys delivering arms from NATO member-states to Ukraine legitimate targets for its military once they reach Ukrainian territory, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov warned in an interview released on April 13th.

2. Zelensky ordered to detain MP

Zelensky ordered the Security Service of Ukraine to illegally detain Viktor Medvedchuk, MP, the head of the Political Council of the Ukrainian party "Opposition Platform - For Life". His wife, Oksana Marchenko, appealed to Zelensky to release her spouse. She believes that he was detained due to political reasons and has never left the country.

3. Humanitarian aid is distributed

The Russian Armed Forces have been opening humanitarian corridors in the Kharkov and Mariupol directions daily since 10:00AM (Moscow time). The Russian side is ready to deploy humanitarian corridors in any other directions as soon as possible and to ensure the safe evacuation of civilians.

The Ukrainian side has announced 10 corridors in the Zaporozhye and Donetsk directions for the current day, of which, as before, none has been established towards Russia.

In response to humanitarian initiatives by Germany, Turkey and France to evacuate civilians and foreign nationals from Mariupol, also provide humanitarian routes daily open an additional humanitarian corridor to Berdyansk and onwards in two directions: the first by land transport to the Republic of Crimea or Zaporozhye (to Kiev-controlled territories), the second by sea transport to selected destinations.

The Russian Federation's Joint Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response in Ukraine, in co-operation with the authorised federal executive authorities, continues to carefully record the continuing egregious facts of the inhumane treatment of civilians.

Here are just some of them over the past day:

a) in Kharkov (Kiev, Nemishlyanskiy and Shevchenkovskiy districts), militants of nationalist formations continue to set up positions in residential buildings, kindergartens and schools, as well as to place heavy weapons in densely populated neighbourhoods. At the same time, the evacuation of civilians has been banned since 10 April 2022;

b) the AFU units in secondary schools equipped firing positions and deployed armoured vehicles in Severodonetsk (school No. 4) in Lugansk People's Republic, as well as in Serebryanka (school No. 7) and Belozerskoye (schools No. 13, 14) in Donetsk People's Republic;

c) nationalists in Chernigov Region continue to conduct raids on private households, during which, under threats of physical violence and murder, they forcibly seize food, valuables, and personal vehicles from people.

The Kiev authorities, under the patronage of the collective West led by the USA, continue to collect pseudo-evidence of Russia's guilt. For this purpose, a curfew and a complete blockade of the city will be imposed in Irpin from 06:00AM on 12 April 2022 until 09:00AM on 15 April 2022, with only security forces and "obscure" volunteers allowed to enter during this period. It has been reliably established that this period of time will be used by Kiev to stage a provocation with cynical staged filming and further promotion of the fake by the Western media.

The Kiev regime is once again showing its true criminal nature, as well as its complete disregard for all norms of international humanitarian law.

Despite all the difficulties and obstacles imposed by the Ukrainian side, over the past day, without the participation of Kiev, 25,560 people were evacuated from dangerous areas, 3,482 of them children.

In total, since the beginning of the special military operation February 24^th, 765,779 people have already been evacuated, of which 144,105 are children. The state border of the Russian Federation was crossed by 99,603 vehicles, of which 3,187 per day.

In Mariupol, also without any involvement from the Ukrainian side, 136,284 people have already been rescued from the lawlessness of the nationalists, including 625 in the past 24 hours.

Over the past day, 879 appeals made by Ukrainian citizens have been received, and in total there are already 2,746,418 of 2,126 settlements in Ukraine in the database.

Ukrainian nationalists continue to hold 6,253 foreign nationals from 11 countries hostage as human shields.

More than 22 tons of basic necessities, food and medicines have been prepared at the collection points. Since March 2nd, 11,242.8 tons of humanitarian cargo have already been delivered to Ukraine, 810 humanitarian actions have been carried out, including 7 actions in Zaporozhye, Kharkov and Kherson regions, as well as in Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, during which 435.5 tons of basic necessities, medicines and food were transferred to the civilian population of the liberated areas.

3. Situation at the Black Sea

76 foreign vessels from 18 countries remain blocked in Ukrainian ports. The threat of shelling and high mine danger created by official Kiev in its internal waters and territorial sea prevents vessels from safely leaving the ports and reaching the open sea.

In confirmation of this, the Russian Federation is opening daily from 08:00 to 19:00 (Moscow time) a humanitarian corridor, which is a safe lane south-west of Ukraine's territorial sea, 80 nautical miles long and 3 nautical miles wide.

Detailed information in English and Russian on the modus operandi of the maritime humanitarian corridor is broadcast daily every 15 minutes on VHF radio on 14 and 16 international channels.

At the same time, the Kiev authorities continue to avoid engaging with representatives of states and ship-owning companies to resolve the issue of ensuring the safe passage of foreign vessels to the assembly area. At the International Maritime Organization, Kiev refuses to discuss these issues demonstratively avoiding dialogue.

The Russian Federation is taking a full range of exhaustive measures to ensure civilian navigation in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Mediterranean.

Once again Russia warns the entire international community that there is a threat of Ukrainian mines drifting off their anchor along the coasts of the Black Sea states. Once again, Russian side calls on the International Maritime Organization and the management of ship-owning companies to influence official Kiev to take measures aimed at unblocking and securing the departure of foreign vessels from Ukrainian ports.

4. Developments on the battleground

The AFU still continue to shell the DPR and LPR by heavy weapons, especially hitting living quarters and social infrastructure.

In the last 24 hours AFU shelled the DPR 17 times with 116 large caliber shell of 120 mm and 122 mm. Two civilians have been killed, 65 houses have been damaged by Ukrainian fire. The AFU shelled the LPR five times.

From April 2014 AFU used to shell the DPR and LPR each day.

On other hand, during last night, Russian troops fired high-precision sea- and air-based missiles that destroyed 2 large missile and artillery weapons depots of the AFU near Sadovoe and Chudnov. 4 Ukrainian helicopters - 2 Mi-24 and 2 Mi-8 - were also destroyed at Mirgorod military airfield. Operational-tactical aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces hit 46 military targets in Ukraine. Among them: 2 command posts and 1 radar station near Borovoe, 2 multiple rocket launchers, and 4 areas of Ukrainian military equipment concentration near Borovoe and Peski-Radkovskoe.  Russian AAD shot down 2 Ukrainian UAV in the air over Afanasievka.

Missile troops and artillery hit 693 enemy assets: 676 areas of Ukrainian personnel and military equipment concentration, 11 command posts and 5 logistics depots.