Russians had well-developed intelligence network in Mariupol, they were calmly scouting everything - Deputy Commander of Azov Palamar
Deputy commander of the Azov regiment and Hero of Ukraine Svyatoslav Palamar, who took part in the battles for Mariupol, said that the Russian invaders had developed an agent in the city before the full-scale invasion.
He said this in an interview with journalist Dmytro Gordon, Censor.NET reports.
"Unfortunately, I did not encounter tremendous resistance from the local population, as in Kyiv. But I cannot say that the locals were not involved. They joined in to help with the fighting. It was not cotton wool," he said.
Palamar also answered the question whether many people in Mariupol were waiting for Russia.
"I think so. I think they were waiting. I think they had an agent in place. I used to vacation in the village of Kulykivske, near our training ground. And a woman who had a cottage near the beach. I said: "Do Russians come to you?" She said: "There is one person who is very nice, calm, and always rides a bicycle. He comes and goes all day long. He comes back in the evening," something like that.
And I think that the Russians came, explored quietly, drove around, looked at the towns, garrisons, training grounds. They would draw, paint and report back. There were also locals, I think," the defense lawyer said.
