On 31 March 2022, several helicopters attempted to evacuate officers of the Azov regiment from Mariupol, where they are completely surrounded. The DPR (Donetsk People's Republic) anti-aircraft defense shot down two of these helicopters (one with a Stinger missile abandoned by the Ukrainian soldiers as they fled from the advancing Russian army), thus preventing this strange evacuation attempt from taking place.
And if I say that this attempt to evacuate officers of the Azov regiment by helicopter from Marioupol is strange, it is because two days before, Emmanuel Macron called Vladimir Putin and raised among other things the question of an evacuation of Marioupol. A request that makes no sense, since as we have seen for several weeks now, the Russian army and the DPR people's militia are helping civilians to evacuate the city as they advance.
A total of three helicopters were involved in the attempt to evacuate Ukrainian officers trapped in Mariupol. Two were shot down and the last helicopter returned to Mariupol. One of the downed helicopters crashed into the sea, but the second one crashed near the village of Rybatskoye, where two survivors were found, as well as several bodies of members of the Azov Regiment.
One of the survivors explained that the operation to evacuate the officers of the Azov Regiment from Mariupol was organized by the Ukrainian Main Directorate of Military Intelligence.
It should be noted that this is not the first evacuation attempt in Mariupol. On 28 March, the DPR People's Militia shot down a helicopter that was supposed to evacuate the Azov Regiment Commander Prokopenko and the 36th Brigade Commander of the UAF, Baraniouk. Then, on 30 March, another attempt was made but the pilot became frightened by DPR air defense fire and the helicopter turned back before it reached Mariupol.
Interestingly, it was between these two failed evacuation attempts that Emmanuel Macron made a phone call to Vladimir Putin to discuss this famous evacuation of Mariupol!
As a result, Russian journalists are lost in theories about the real identity of the people who justify risking so many helicopters to evacuate them from Mariupol. Indeed, it seems strange that Kiev would go to such lengths to evacuate the commanders of Azov and the 36th brigade of the UAF, while the option of retreat has always been refused by the Ukrainian general staff, who prefer their soldiers to become "martyrs".
However, given Emmanuel Macron's eagerness to launch an evacuation operation in Mariupol, there is speculation that French intelligence officers or trainers may have been among those to be evacuated from the city, while the areas where Ukrainian soldiers have taken refuge are shrinking and are now isolated (the cauldron has been split in two).
https://twitter.com/abunin/status/1509874461104820224
It is hoped that the remains of the helicopter that crashed near Rybatskoye, and the testimonies of the two survivors, will clarify the identity of all those who were to be evacuated.
In the meantime, with more than 90% of the city now controlled by the Russian army and the DPR people's militia, Denis Pushilin has already ordered the creation of a republican local and regional administration in Mariupol to replace the Ukrainian authorities who have abandoned the inhabitants to their fate.