The commander of the Azov regiment, Denis Prokopenko, said that the defenders of Mariupol could keep the defense on the right bank of the city for a long time if the commander of the 36th Marine Brigade had not decided to make a breakthrough.
The commander of the Marines did not warn anyone about his decision.
Denis Prokopenko said this in an interview with Ukrayinska Pravda .
“These actions defy any logical explanation… First, one battalion suddenly surrendered, it was April 4. As a result, by that time we had lost the only way of communication between Azov and the 36th brigade. The brigade decided, without warning anyone, to simply make a breakthrough in an unknown direction and thereby lost a lot of people. Also, many were left to the mercy of fate and they were simply captured, “Prokopenko emphasized.
The commander of “Azov” noted that because of this, the flank was exposed and after the completion of the cleansing of the “Ilyich” plant, the enemy threw all his forces into the position of “Azov” and began to attack from the flank and rear. One of the Azov battalions ended up in a double cordon, and it was decided to break through with a fight to the Azovstal plant, Prokopenko added.
In his opinion, it was the uncoordinated actions on the part of the 36th brigade that led to catastrophic consequences that could no longer be returned.
“It was the decision of the commander of the 36th brigade, Colonel Baranyuk, or someone from the leadership pushed him to do this, I don’t know. But in any case, it was completely illogical, it was possible to keep the defense at the Ilyich plant for quite a long time, but why such a decision was made – I don’t know. They had absolutely enough military equipment and ammunition to hold the defense, “said the commander of the Azov regiment.
Recall that on April 12, one of the units of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine named after Rear Admiral Mikhail Bilinsky connected with the forces of the Azov regiment. Another group attempted to break through to connect with the main forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, located 90 kilometers from Mariupol, but their column was broken.
It is worth noting that the city, which is 95% destroyed, has been under the blockade of Russian invaders since March 1, but the enemy is unable to take it completely under control.
On February 24, Russia attacked Ukraine , inflicting a series of missile and air strikes on our cities, including Kiev. The large-scale invasion has been going on for the 74th day (war of 8 years). The invaders continue to destroy Ukrainian villages, towns and cities with cruise missiles and air bombs, killing the civilian population and causing devastating destruction to the infrastructure.
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