Homeless men and alcoholics are being recruited to Russian army in Mariupol – General Staff

The Ukrainian Armed Forces' General Staff reported this on February 16.

“In Mariupol, temporarily occupied by the enemy, the invading Russian forces are taking measures to 'mobilize' certain members of society. From now on, homeless people, as well as people with alcohol or drug addiction, are being taken to the enemy army,” the statement says. 

Also, the pseudo-administration of the town of Hola Prystan, Kherson region, is forcing local residents to re-register their property under Russian law. According to the General Staff, the occupying Russian forces are spreading information that Ukrainian citizens who do not comply with Russian demands by May of this year will be deported to Russia.

AFU launched 13 strikes on Russian military positions

Also, Ukrainian aviation launched one strike against the enemy's surface-to-air missile system.

Besides that, rocket and artillery units hit 3 areas of manpower concentration, an artillery unit, a munitions depot and 2 other important targets.

Russians launch 36 missiles at Ukraine, 16 of them were shot down

Moreover, the enemy launched 12 airstrikes and over 10 MLRS attacks, causing injuries and deaths among the civilian population.

The Russian enemy is focusing its main efforts on conducting offensive actions in the Kupiansk, Lyman, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Shakhtarsk directions.

Near the state Ukrainian border with Russia and Belarus, the enemy continues to hold certain units, but no offensive groups have been detected.

At the same time, the Russian Federation continued shelling the entire border line: 3 settlements in the Sumy region and 3 more in the Kharkiv region were attacked from the Russian territory. 

Shelling of Ukrainian regions

• In the Kupiansk and Lyman directions, 6 settlements were attacked. 

• In the Bakhmut direction, 11 settlements of the Donetsk region were shelled.

• In the Avdiivka direction, the enemy fired artillery at 14 settlements of the Donetsk region.

• In the Zaporizhzhia direction, the areas of 8 settlements were hit. 

• In the Kherson direction, 4 towns and villages, including Kherson itself, were subjected to artillery fire. Civilians were injured.

As a result of the prisoner exchange, 101 Ukrainians returned home: 100 servicemen and 1 civilian.