President Of Pontian Greek Organisation on Mariupol: The Azov Battalion hide in civilian homes

The president of the Panhellenic Coordinating Committee of Repatriated Greek Pontians, Alexandros Iosifidis, addressed a desperate appeal in every direction, for the safety of ethnic Greeks stuck in the besieged city of Mariupol. 

The president of the Pontian association claimed that the Ukrainian neo-Nazi Azov Battalion were hiding in civilian houses.

"The armed units of the Aidar and Azov battalions have been deployed inside the houses of the citizens, making any attempt of the citizens to escape impossible," he said.

“Our compatriots are either in the basements or on the floors of their apartments, forced to take water from radiators,” Iosifidis continued, adding that he speaks to fewer and fewer people every day.

“Those who manage to charge their mobile phones from the car, tell me about a state of absolute terror. The [neo-Nazi] militants eat and drink, rob civilians and threaten them inside their homes," the community leader continued.

READ MORE: Greek refugee from Mariupol: “Ukrainian soldiers stopped and threatened us, Russian soldiers calmed us down” (VIDEO) 

Iosifidis said that Ukrainian forces were using civilians as a "shield."

"It should be noted that this very tactic, that is, to use the civilian population as a 'shield' in an armed conflict, and the Ukrainian President and all the Western propaganda that supports him, attribute this tactic only to the volunteer mercenaries that Russia is preparing to send to Ukraine from the Middle East.

Clearly outraged by the Greek government’s oligarchy that let things go without timely initiatives, to rescue expatriates from the grip of the neo-Nazis all the time before and the double calamity of the conflict today with the war, he added that it "is unacceptable to sacrifice our people because Russians and Ukrainians are being killed among themselves.”

Asked if the Ukrainian government could stop the dirty tactics of protecting civilians from paramilitary battalions today, he said: “Only if the families of armed paramilitaries, who live in western Ukraine, in the Lviv region, are forced to return home, something could be done.

Iosifidis added though that Zelensky “has appointed them in the Mariupol zone”.

The community leader said that it is worth noting that the Mayor of Mariupol, whose statements are often widely hosted in all western and domestic media regarding the suffering of the city’s population from the beginning of the Russian siege until today, is Zelensky’s chosen despite not even being in Mariupol.

He claims that he has left for an unknown but safe place days ago.

READ MORE: Who is the Pontian Greek fighting against Ukrainian forces?