OREANDA-NEWS. The remnants of the Ukrainian military group at the Azovstal metallurgical plant are securely blocked, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a conference call. According to him, cited by RIA Novosti, the militants continue to ignore the proposals of the Russian side to release civilians and lay down their arms.

In accordance with the instructions of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, the remnants of the militants located in the industrial zone of the Azovstal plant are reliably blocked along the entire perimeter of this territory, the Minister of Defense noted.

On April 21, the head of the Russian Defense Ministry, Sergei Shoigu, at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, reported on the transition of Mariupol under the control of Russian troops. At the same time, he noted that more than two thousand Ukrainian militants remain blocked at Azovstal.

Putin ordered to cancel the assault on the enterprise and once again invite everyone who is there to lay down their arms. He stressed that the Russian side guarantees them life and decent treatment, as well as medical care for the wounded. Later, there were reports of groups of civilians fleeing the plant. The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, said that more than 150 civilians, as well as 170 wounded, remained in the bunkers of the Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol.