Alwaght- Russia has given Ukraine an ultimatum to surrender Mariupol, warning that the southeastern port city is experiencing “a terrible humanitarian catastrophe.”
“Lay down your arms,” Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, director of the Russian National Defense Management Center, said in a briefing. “A terrible humanitarian catastrophe has developed,” he said, adding that “all who lay down their arms are guaranteed safe passage out of Mariupol.”
Ukraine on Monday, however, rejected to surrender the city, its deputy prime minister told local media, demanding Moscow to allow evacuation of the city. Moscow accuses the Ukrainian side of hindering the evacuation operation, adding that it has already created safe passages for civilians.
"We can't talk about surrendering weapons," Iryna Vereshchuk of Ukraine told Ukrainska Pravda hours before a Russian deadline.
"We have already informed the Russian side about it," she said, demanding Moscow instead open humanitarian corridors to allow an estimated 350,000 people still trapped in the city to leave.
Russia's Ministry of Defense had earlier said Ukraine had until 5am on March 21 to respond to Russian proposals, warning that more than a "court martial" awaits those who do not surrender.
The southern port city of Mariupol is pivotal for the Russian operation, providing a land bridge between Russian forces in Crimea to the southwest and Russian-controlled territory to the north and east.
The Russian president ordered an operation in Ukraine to protect the two breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine from Ukrainian army attacks and thwart “threats to the Russian national security” posed by Ukraine for its demand to join NATO.
