Ukraine will not “lay down its arms and will not leave the besieged city” of Mariupol, its Deputy Prime Minister told Ukrainian media overnight from Sunday to Monday, in response to the ultimatum posed by Russia.
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“There is no question of talking about surrender or laying down arms. We have already informed the Russian side about it,” Iryna Vereshchuk told the Ukrayinskaya Pravda newspaper. “It’s deliberate manipulation and real hostage-taking,” she added of the request.
The Russian Defense Ministry had called on Ukraine to “lay down its arms” and demanded a “written response” to its ultimatum before 5 a.m. Monday, in the name of safeguarding the inhabitants and infrastructure of the city of Mariupol.
“We call on the official authorities in Kyiv to be reasonable and cancel the instructions given previously, which forced the militants to sacrifice themselves and become martyrs of Mariupol”, demanded Mikhail Mizintsev, director of the Russian National Center for the Management of defense, in a briefing issued by Russia’s Defense Ministry.
“Lay down your arms,” he said. “A terrible humanitarian catastrophe has developed (…) All those who lay down their arms are guaranteed to be able to leave Mariupol in complete safety”.
According to Mizintsev, Russia and Ukraine agreed on a route for Mariupol residents to reach Kyiv-controlled territory on March 21. “From 10 a.m. Moscow time (…) Russia opens humanitarian corridors from Mariupol to the East, and in agreement with the Ukrainian side, to the West”, detailed Mr. Mizintsev.
The Russian Ministry of Defense had earlier in the evening addressed the authorities in Mariupol via the Telegram messaging application: “You are (facing a) historic choice – either you are with your people or you are with the criminals”.
“The occupiers continue to behave like terrorists,” replied Iryna Vereshchuk on Telegram. “They say they agree (to establish a) humanitarian corridor and in the morning they bombard the place of evacuation. The government is doing everything possible. The most important thing for us is to save the life and health of our citizens”.
Mariupol, a predominantly Russian-speaking strategic port in the southeast, has been one of the main targets of Moscow’s attacks.
The streets of the city are strewn with corpses, while negotiations between delegations continue, without concrete outcome for the time being.