The Ministry of Defense showed a video of the exit of the Ukrainian military from

The Russian Ministry of Defense published a video of the exit of the last group of Ukrainian military, who were blocked at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, from the territory of the plant.

On the footage, the Russian military asks if there are officers among those who came out, examine people's belongings, search them and force them to undress and show tattoos on their bodies.

According to the Russian ministry, on Friday, May 20, 531 people left the plant; in total since May 16 - 2439. The department calls them “Nazis of Azov” (some of the materials of the organization are recognized as extremist in RUSSIA and banned) and military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The representative of the Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov, reported that the territory of Azovstal was "completely liberated", the HEAD of the department, Sergei Shoigu, reported this to President Vladimir Putin.

The Ukrainian side had previously said that it hoped for the exchange of wounded soldiers for Azovstal. The press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov, forwarded the question to the Ministry of Defense whether Moscow considers those taken out of the plant to be prisoners of war. At the same time, the Russian State Duma is discussing the issue of a ban on the exchange of “Nazi criminals” so that they can be brought to justice (the Russian authorities have repeatedly called the Azov battalion a neo-Nazi association).

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that Ukraine needs the soldiers from Azovstal alive. On May 20, he stated that "the guys [from Azov] received a signal from the military that they have every right to go out and save their lives."