Re: Mariupol

azov militants using civilians gathered in house as collateral shields to deter a russian strike on them

the Russian military's strategy is to encircle ukrainian units, then allow a corridor for anyone who surrenders weapons/proves they aren't part of the ukrainian military, particularly azov, but the ukrainian military according to testimonies of some in Donbass and Mariupol are not allowing civilians, particularly Russian speakers from DPR and LPR, to use the russian corridors, finding them more useful as human shields. This would imply that, despite the invasion, Russian federation cares at least a little bit about optics, even if only for cynical reasons.

https://youtu.be/nhLB5Wp1lGs

https://www.reddit.com/link/t9ibhw/video/lyvj5ykj96m81/player