were intended to "protect civilians from looters and criminals operating in the city". Akhmetov urged the Ukrainian government to refrain from sending its forces to the city and to start negotiations with the insurgents. An agreement initiated by Metinvest was signed on 15 May by steel plant directors, police and community leaders, and a representative of the Donetsk People's Republic separatists. Steelworkers and security guards from Metinvest, along with local police, began joint patrols in the city of Mariupol. Associated Press reported that these groups forced the insurgents out of the buildings that they had been occupying. Although a DPR representative was party to the deal which led to this vacation of buildings by the insurgents, a local commander of those insurgents who had been occupying the building said that "someone is trying to sow discord among us, someone has signed something, but we will continue our fight", and that "everyone ran away". Steelworkers could be seen removing barricades from the city centre, and also cleaning up the burnt city administration building. By the morning of 16 May 2014, Associated Press journalists could find no trace of the insurgents in Mariupol city centre. On 16 May, however, it seemed that separatists were not banished from the city: reporters from The Washington Post said that about a hundred pro-Russian activists gathered on the steps of the city administration building, and that the separatist flag continued to fly over it. Radio Free Europe reported on 17 May that separatist militants (unarmed, but some wearing balaclavas) were patrolling Mariupol alongside police. On 19 May 2014, CNN reporters found DPR supporters, including armed militia, running their headquarters in a suburb of Mariupol. The leader of the group, Denis Kuzmenko, told the reporters he welcomed the role of the steelworkers in the city. Government recapture of Mariupol On the morning of 13 June 2014, heavy fighting resumed as part of military operations in Mariupol, in which the Azov and Dnipro-1 Battalions retook the city and key buildings occupied by insurgents, killing five militants and destroying an insurgent BRDM-2 armoured vehicle. Two soldiers were also killed and 4–11 separatists were captured. A military armoured personnel carrier was destroyed during the fighting. Internal Affairs minister Avakov said "All key terrorist strongholds are being brought under control". As a result of the six-hour battle, Ukrainian forces hoisted the national flag over the insurgent headquarters in the city and