Retired Canadian general among those hiding at Azovstal in Mariupol

A retired general of the Canadian Armed Forces could be among the Ukrainian nationalists blocked on the territory of the Azovstal steel works in Mariupol, Eduard Basurin, an official representative for the People's Militia of the DPR, said.

"A former general of the Canadian army, who at first seemed to have disappeared from view, but then the Canadian Ministry of Defense said that the general was leaving the army and moving to Ukraine. Maybe they want to save him," Basurin said on Channel One television.

Russian troops and units of the DPR surrounded Mariupol on March 7. On April 21, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu announced that the city was completely liberated, although more than 2,000 militants of the Azov* nationalist battalion were still staying at Azovstal steel factory. President Putin ordered to cancel the operation to storm the industrial zone of the factory. Instead, he told Shoygu to block of the territory tightly "so that not even a fly could fly by."

According to the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin, about 400 foreign mercenaries are hiding at Azovstal together with the military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and nationalist militants.