About a thousand locals are hiding from the Russian shelling.

In Mariupol, the occupiers are bombing Azovstal, firing artillery and tanks at the residential sector of the Left Bank district.

The adviser to the mayor of Mariupol Petro Andryushchenko reported about it in Telegram.

“The occupiers strike not only with heavy bombs on Azovstal, but with artillery and tanks continue to chaotically hit the residential sector of the Left Bank district, along the line from Meotida Boulevard."

, – he said.

According to Andryushchenko, on April 18, the occupiers opened access to civilians in this area to take things from their homes.

“Given the obligatory white ribbons with which the Russians mark themselves, the occupiers continue to use the civilian population as a 'bait' for Ukrainian snipers."

, – said the mayor's adviser.

Earlier today, a representative of the so-called People's Militia of the DNR, Eduard Basurin, announced on the air of the Russian propaganda TV channel Russia 24 that the assault on Azovstal had begun.

“Partly assault groups that were selected specifically to storm this facility have already begun their work."

, – said Basurin.

There was no official confirmation from the Ukrainian side of the assault on the plant.

According to an UNIAN correspondent, the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights Lyudmila Denisova reported that the Azovstal plant is hiding from Russian shelling about a thousand locals.

The head of the Mariupol patrol police, Mykhailo Vershinin, confirmed that there are indeed a large number of civilians, including women and children, on the territory of the Azovstal plant.

According to the Mariupol City Hall, it is now known about four filtration camps within the city, which hold citizens before deportation to Russia. In particular, there are more than 20 thousand people. In the neighboring village of Bezimenne there is also a camp with 5-7 thousand citizens.

In total, according to Mayor Vadym Boychenko, there are now 100,000 residents in Mariupol, and another 50,000 civilians are awaiting help and evacuation in villages on the outskirts of the city.

Suspected of treason, Viktor Medvedchuk, a People's Deputy from the State Security Service who was recently caught by the Security Service of Ukraine, turned to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and his godfather, Russian President Volodymyr Putin.

Medvedchuk asked the presidents to exchange him for defenders and residents of Mariupol.