ON EVE OF EASTER, PUTIN ORDERS SUSPENSION OF ASSAULT IN MARIUPOL
Institute of Religion and Policy, 21 April 2022
At a meeting with Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu on 21 April 2022 (on the eve of the Orthodox date of Pascha), Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an order to suspend the assault on Ukrainian troops in besieged Mariupol.
As the Kremlin website reports, Shoigu laid out his view of the military situation in the city: "The armed forces of the Russian Federation and the forces of the people's militia of the Donetsk People's Republic have liberated Mariupol. The remnants of the formation of the nationalists have taken refuge in the industrial zone of the Azovstal factory."
He reported the preparation for an assault on those who have taken refuge in the Azovstal factory and are "basically blockaded there and along the entire perimeter."
"We need about three or four days in order the complete this work in Azovstal," Sergei Shoigu said.
However Vladimir Putin ordered to halt the assault, citing the necessity to protect the lives of Russian service personnel.
"I consider the proposed assault of the industrial zone to be pointless. I order it cancelled."
"This is a situation where we must consider—that is, we always must consider, but in this case even more so—the saving of the life and health of our soldiers and officers. There is no need to climb into these catacombs and crawl under the earth of these industrial buildings. Seal the industrial zone so that even a fly cannot get through," Putin ordered.
Earlier United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Tuesday for the declaration of a four-day "humanitarian pause" in military activities in Ukraine, beginning on Thursday, in order to coincide with the observance of Passion Week by Orthodox Christians.
Representatives of Ukraine supported this initiative, but the Russian Federation spoke out against it.
KREMLIN EXPLAINS PUTIN'S PLANS FOR EASTER
Russian President Vladimir Putin traditionally attends church on Pascha, his press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, reported to journalists on Thursday.
"We expect that he will visit a church, since he traditionally does this," Peskov responded to the question of a journalist regarding the president's plans for the Easter holiday. (tr. by PDS, posted 21 April 2022)
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