April 18^th, 2022

1. Russian troops proposed amnesty to Ukrainian troops besieged at “Azovstal” still plant from 6:00 AM to 13:00

During April 16, 2022, there was a sharp increase in the intensity of radio communications by nationalist militants and foreign mercenaries blocked in Mariupol at Azovstal steel plant. With most of the city under Russian control, these forces have dug in at the sprawling Azovstal metallurgical plant, a gargantuan Soviet-built factory complex spread over 11 square kilometers.

At the same time, the content of radio intercepts (367 were received in the past 24 hours alone) shows that the resisting fighters are in a desperate situation, practically without food and water. They insist that the official authorities in Kiev allow them to lay down their arms and surrender. However, the Ukrainian authorities categorically forbid this and threaten to carry out further executions under "wartime" conditions.

In accordance with persistent humanitarian initiatives by France, Germany and Turkey, and for purely humanitarian purposes, the Russian Armed Forces have repeatedly offered the militants to lay down their arms and withdraw from Mariupol to Kiev-controlled territory. To this end, since March 21, 2022, a humanitarian corridor has been opened daily from 10AM to 6:00PM; from April 5, 2022, such corridors are opened daily

Taking into account the catastrophic situation at Azovstal Iron and Steel Works and being guided by purely humane principles, the Russian Armed Forces suggest that the militants of the nationalist battalions and foreign mercenaries stop any hostilities and lay down.

Russian troops declared from 06:00 to 13:00 (Moscow time), Sunday, April 17^th, 2022,  free and unhindered  withdrawal of all Ukrainian armed units and foreign mercenaries from Azov still plant, without any weapons or ammunition.

The Russian Federation guaranteed each of them preservation of their lives and the observance of all norms of the Geneva Convention for the treatment of POW, as has already happened to Ukrainian POW who previously surrendered in Mariupol to the DPR troops.

This emergency declaration was published immediately and reported to the United Nations, the OSCE, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international organisations through all available information resources, including the media.

In addition, this emergency statement was broadcasted continuously throughout the night to Ukrainian formations at Azovstal on all radio channels at 30-minute intervals.

A Ukrainian military group encircled and completely blockaded in Mariupol on the territory of the Azovstal plant has been asked to voluntarily lay down arms and surrender in order to save their lives.

In total, according to the Ukrainian servicemen who surrendered, up to 400 foreign mercenaries are now encircled on the territory of Azovstal plant as part of the Ukrainian grouping.

Most of them are citizens of European countries as well as Canada. We previously reported that radio conversations between militants in Mariupol were conducted in six foreign languages. In the case of further resistance, they will all be eliminated.

Since the start of the special military operation, the Kiev nationalist regime has brought 6,824 foreign mercenaries from 63 countries to Ukraine.

The largest group came from Poland - 1,717 people. About 1,500 mercenaries came from the USA, Canada and also Romania. From the UK and Georgia, each up to 300 people. 193 people arrived from Turkish-controlled areas of the Syrian Arab Republic.

The majority of the mercenaries are now deployed in Ukrainian groups in Kiev, Kharkov, Odessa, Nikolaev and Mariupol. Their deployment in the groups is handled by the "regional coordination headquarters" of the so-called "International Legion of Defence of Ukraine" in Belaya Tserkov city.

As a result of the hostilities, the number of mercenaries has steadily declined and currently stands at 4,877.

Russian Armed Forces have eliminated 1,035 foreign mercenaries in combat operations. Another 912 of them urgently left from the country.

All foreign mercenaries do not have the status of "combatants" under International Humanitarian Law. They came to Ukraine to make money by killing Slavs. So, the best that can happen to them is criminal liability and long terms of imprisonment

Opposition Platform - For Life Party politician Viktor Medvedchuk was detained by Ukrainian Security Forces last Tuesday. On Saturday, his wife appealed to the families of two suspected British mercenaries captured by Russian forces, calling on them to ask the British government for help in exchanging them for her husband.

Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin, the two British nationals who surrendered to Russian forces in Ukraine, have appealed to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, asking him for assistance in swapping them for Ukrainian opposition politician Viktor Medvedchuk who was detained without fair trial.

2. Other humanitarian corridors

The Russian side opened humanitarian corridors on a daily basis and ensured all requirements to observe the ceasefire in the Mariupol direction.

The Ukrainian side has never confirmed the security guarantees of the humanitarian corridor in question and continues to deliberately obstruct the implementation of these humanitarian initiatives.

Representatives of foreign embassies, relevant UN structures, the OSCE, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international organisations were duly informed about planned humanitarian operations through all available information resources, including the media.

None of these organizations, with the exception of the International Committee of the Red Cross, has ever responded to our persistent calls for the opening of humanitarian corridors for the fighters to leave.

Thanks to the measures taken by the Russian Federation, without the participation of the Ukrainian side or international organizations, it was possible to evacuate from Mariupol more than 168,000 civilians (139,678 of them to the Russian Federation), including 237 representatives of foreign countries.

In addition, 1,464 Ukrainian servicemen laid down their arms and surrendered. They are not subjected to violence or psychological pressure. Everyone is given the opportunity to contact relatives. Wounded prisoners of war are provided with timely, qualified medical care.

3. The Kiev regime plans to shell churches on Orthodox Easter

Orthodox Christians will celebrate Easter on Sunday 24 April this year. Eastern Orthodoxy is the predominant Christian denomination in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and southeastern Europe, as well as some parts of the Middle East.

Russia's Defence Ministry has information that Ukrainian authorities are planning to carry out a "terrible" provocation on Orthodox Easter, and is appealing to Western Governments, the UNO and the OSCE to prevent it from taking place, Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev, the head of the National Defence Control Centre, has announced. Russia has warned countries of the 'Civilised West' led by the United States ahead of time that the Russian Federation has an operational base of evidence about terrible crimes planned by the Kiev regime, Mizintsev said in a briefing in Moscow on April 18^th.

Kiev, according to the officer, plans to shell churches using mortars in a number of regions of Ukraine, including Zaporozhye, Nikolaev, Odessa, Sumy and Kharkov on Easter night, and to subsequently blame Russia for the massacre of civilians. A number of Western countries are said to be involved in the planning of the provocation, which is to be carried out by over 70 mobile groups formed among ultra-nationalist battalions in mortar-equipped vans and off-road vehicles.

"Kiev plans to gather a large number of reporters from Western news agencies to document these alleged 'Russian atrocities' and to immediately and cynically spin these fakes," Mizintsev said.

4. Situation on the battlefield

A criminal missile strike was carried out by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on a peaceful civilian farm, exposing residents of the Tokmak settlement, Zaporozhye Region, to danger. The strike was carried out by the Tochka-U tactical missile system on private outbuildings designed to ensure the operation of a local farm and farmer's houses.

The buildings and structures of a private agricultural farm have been completely destroyed and cannot be restored. During the night, high-precision air-based missiles destroyed an ammunition factory near Brovary in Kiev region.

Operational-tactical and army aviation hit 68 military assets of Ukraine. Among them: 2 radar stations for target illumination and targeting of S-300 anti-aircraft missile system near Krivaya Luka and Krasnoarmeisk as well as 1 Osa AKM anti-aircraft missile system near Severodonetsk; 6 missile-artillery weapons and fuel depots, as well as 40  areas of concentration of Ukrainian military equipment and manpower in Kremennaya, Krasnyi Liman, Kolodesi, Torskoe, Yampolovka and Novoselovka.

Army aviation hit 4 concentrations of manpower and equipment as well as a convoy of vehicles on the march during the night. More than 50 Ukrainian servicemen, 7 IFVs and APCs and 14 armoured vehicles were destroyed.

Missile troops and artillery hit 814 targets, including 17 command posts, 111 artillery firing positions and 684 enemy strongholds and manpower concentration areas.

Russian AAD shot down 10 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles near Avdeevka, Bairak, Lozovaya, Malaya Kamyshevakha, Novoprokofievka, Pologi, Chernobayevka, Shirkoe and Yasinovataya.

During the offensive to liberate Mariupol city, a special operation to free hostages held by Ukrainian Nazis in Turkish mosque was carried out in Primorskiy district on April 16 at the request of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As a result of the courageous actions of the Russian special operations group, the mosque was defeated and 29 militants, including foreign mercenaries, were killed. Hostages, citizens of a CIS country, released and taken to a safe location.

Written by Vladimir P. Kozin