CNN reported on the secret negotiations that stopped the assault on Azovstal | PHOTO
The CNN news network told how the siege of «Azovstal» Russian troops in the spring of 2022. This was reported in a CNN article.
The material says that this was the result of negotiations between the Ukrainian and Russian sides, which began on May 25, 2022. From the Ukrainian side, they were started by a people's deputy, a member of the deputy group «Dovira» Alexander Kovalev, who has contacts in the FSB. According to the deputy, the operation was led by the Main Directorate of Intelligence and personally by its head, Kirill Budanov.
From Russia, the negotiations were led by two intelligence generals — Lieutenant General Vladimir Alekseev and Major General Alexander Zorin. Both were born in Ukraine.
April 25 Kovalev made his first trip to Mariupol. There he had a conversation with former SBU agent Valentin Kryzhanovsky, who in 2014 betrayed Ukraine and defected to the FSB, as well as Lieutenant General of the Russian Army Andrei Sychev, who led the assault on Mariupol. The proof of this conversation is the photo.
According to the People's Deputy, he helped to convince «the other side that saving, first of all, children, women and the wounded, would be an act of common sense, an act of humanism».
CNN recalled that in In early May last year, the UN and the Red Cross evacuated hundreds of civilians from «Azovstal» and other districts of Mariupol. On May 7, Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk stated that «all women, children and the elderly» were safely removed from the smelter. However, the military remained at the plant, and Russian shelling began again.
On May 9, Kovalev returned to Mariupol for a second round of negotiations, but this time not alone. Dmitry Usov, Budanov's first deputy, joined him. Now they spoke directly with the chief negotiators from the Russian Federation Alekseev and Zorin.
According to Kovalev, Alekseev constantly took breaks in negotiations to call Moscow. He had a direct cellular connection with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
The negotiations moved on. On May 16, a third visit to Mariupol was organized, during which a meeting of the Russian generals who led the war with Ukrainian officers took place. One of them — battalion leader «Azov» lieutenant colonel Denis Prokopenko.
«It was the moment of truth. When we did everything for the two sides to come together, look into each other's eyes, the Russian side promised that there would be a civilized way out for our soldiers», — Kovalyov said.
The people's deputy said that the conditions of the Russians were simple: the Ukrainian military would stop hostilities, surrender the plant and surrender themselves. Then — civilized conditions for the detention of our prisoners of war and exchange.
According to Kovalev, the agreement on the safe exit of Ukrainian fighters was clearly implemented. Later that day, the most seriously wounded were carried out of the factory on stretchers.
On May 16, in the evening, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine announced the start of the evacuation of Ukrainian servicemen from «Azovstal». The next day, May 17, an endless stream of Ukrainian soldiers began their exit into captivity. Many are on crutches or stretchers, some are seriously injured.