Russia deliberately targeted Mariupol shelters marked "Children" and "Civilians" — Azov soldier, released from captivity

Azov soldier Ivan Sokal, who spent more than 2 years in Russian captivity, told about this in an interview with Espreso.

"There were civilians there, they had separate bunkers — they were marked with signs that said 'children,' 'civilians.' They were there during the defense of Azovstal, somewhere in the middle of this defense. Despite the fact that there were civilians there and their bunkers were marked, Russia still launched airstrikes on these bunkers, in these places," said the soldier.

He said that when he and his fellow fighters came to Azovstal, they always brought food, medicine, and water to civilians. Additionally, knowing that there were children there, the defenders brought baby food and everything they needed for the children.

Read also: Mass graves in the heart of Ukraine’s Mariupol

"It was very difficult with the civilians because people did not understand what fighting in the city was, what a combined-arms battle was. People went outside, despite the shelling, thinking that it would all fly somewhere nearby and nothing would happen," Ivan Sokal noted.

According to him, when the military saw civilians, they repeatedly told them to hide in the basements, but many people did not pay attention to this.

"It was like telling people, 'There will be shelling now, hide in the basements.' People didn't want to leave, and literally two minutes later you start providing them with medical assistance just because they simply didn't want to listen and didn't understand what was happening in Mariupol," Sokal said.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia is trying to rebuild Mariupol in order to hide all the people who died under the rubble.