Spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Defense Igor Konashenkov stated that an isothermal vehicle was found during the examinations made in the shelter of the Azovstal steel plant, where Ukrainian soldiers surrendered in the city of Mariupol. Konashenkov said, “The bodies of 152 Ukrainian soldiers were hidden in the vehicle whose cooling system was broken.” Reminding that the Azov battalion commanders applied to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to take the bodies so that their families could be buried, Konashenkov said, “There was no request from the Kiev administration to take the bodies from the Azovstal factory.” Konashenkov also emphasized that 4 mines were found under the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers who died during the examinations in the vehicle, and that the total amount of explosives was sufficient to destroy all the other bodies in the vehicle.
Konashenkov said, “Based on the interrogations of the soldiers of the captured Azov battalion, it was determined that the mines were planted on orders directly from Kiev. The purpose of the provocation is to accuse Russia of deliberately destroying the bodies and preventing them from being taken for delivery to their relatives, in order to protect the political reputation of the Kiev regime and Zelensky.” Russia plans to deliver the dead bodies of Ukrainian soldiers at the Azovstal factory to the Ukrainian authorities in the coming days, Konashenkov said.