Translated by Voices of Ukraine

We deliberately avoided commenting on the situation with [Ukrainian] troops withdrawal from Mariupol yesterday [May 10], since we thought that such explanations should have been provided either by representatives of the highest state leadership or by the special forces command. Yesterday, the National Guard commanders commented on the situation in general. We will try to expand on these statements for [better] understanding.

In the IR memo of May 10 we noted that special forces demonstrated rather significant expertise. But we should also draw your attention to the statement regarding Russian propaganda.

The bottom line is that in Mariupol (unlike in Sloviansk or in Kramatorsk) we saw how local residents, poisoned by propaganda, supported terrorists quite significantly by going into the streets to confront the mythical “Right Sector,” and by perceiving security forces as the enemy—messengers of the “illegitimate Banderite” government.

And, although the majority of these “peaceful protesters” were the local lumpens and marginals (which we saw on the video of events), the large-scale protests against Ukrainian security forces reached a critical level. In fact, the events in Mariupol approximated the format of the civil war that the Russian leadership is so eager to ignite in Ukraine.

In this situation, the security forces had two options. Either to accept the imposed scenario and drown the city in blood. Or retreat.

They chose the second option. Whether it was the right decision or not—decide for yourself.

Source: Dmitry Tymchuk FB
Translation: Maidan Translations