Russia could agree to the evacuation of Azovstal defenders to speed up the possibility of declaring Mariupol completely under its control ,
KYIV. UkraineGate , 18 , May , 2022 | War News .
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ISW analysts speculate that the Kremlin may have agreed to such an agreement to secure victory and divert attention from the failed crossing of the Seversky Donets River and the overall slow pace of the invasion.
The deal, analysts say, has sparked some outrage and confusion on pro-Russian social media instead of celebrating Mariupol’s full capitulation, which the Kremlin probably expected. It is speculated that this may have undermined Russian information operations.
In addition, the Institute for the Study of War believes that Russia may refuse to exchange defenders of Mariupol, as some deputies of the State Duma call for the adoption of laws banning the exchange of prisoners for those accused of so-called “Nazism”. At the same time, the speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Vladan said that the defenders of Mariupol should be accused of war crimes and can not be exchanged for Russian prisoners of war. The Kremlin may ignore the State Duma’s concerns or use them to sabotage talks with Ukraine, according to ISW.
Source: Ukrgate
