Russia says it has offered Ukrainian fighters holding out in Mariupol a window to surrender, saying their lives “will be spared” if they lay down their arms.
that it was giving Ukrainian"militants" and"foreign mercenaries" left in Mariupol a chance to lay down their arms from 6:00 a.m. Moscow time on Sunday and that if they did so"their lives will be spared."
There has been no indication that Ukrainian fighters plan to surrender, and the deadline has now passed.Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images Kharkiv, Ukraine's second biggest city, has been under intermittent bombardment since the war began in late February."Though Russia's operational focus has shifted to eastern Ukraine, Russia's ultimate objective remains the same," the ministry said on Twitter."It is committed to compelling Ukraine to abandon its Euro-Atlantic orientation and asserting its own regional dominance.
"The destruction of all our guys in Mariupol – what they are doing now – can put an end to any format of negotiations," Zelenskyy said in an interview. The president's office said the southern port city is holding out but the situation is critical. The battle for Mariupol has come at a horrific cost to trapped and starving civilians. Locals reported seeing Russian troops digging up bodies from residential courtyards and prohibiting new burials. It was unclear why.
Russia says it has seized the urban area of Mariupol and only a small contingent of Ukrainian fighters remain inside the steelworks in the besieged southern port,It would be the first major city to have fallen to Russian forces since the Feb. 24 invasion.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Russia poised to take Mariupol as last of Ukrainian forces taken prisonerRussian forces on Friday appeared close to capturing the port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, following more than six weeks of bruising setbacks, including the sinking of Moscow's crowning jewel in its Black Sea Fleet.
Read more »
Zelensky: Negotiations would end if Mariupol fighters are killedZelensky said today that negotiations with Russia would come to a halt if the Ukrainians defending the port city of Mariupol are killed. “We aren’t bartering using our territories and people.”
Read more »
Mariupol warns Russia is preparing to shut down city to 'filter' all men for forced service, laborMariupol Mayor Vadym Boychenko said last week 31,000 residents had already gone to Russian 'filtration camps.'
Read more »
Ukrainian governor says Mariupol ‘has been wiped off the face of the earth’“The enemy cannot seize Mariupol. The enemy may seize the land that Mariupol used to stand on, but the city of Mariupol is no more,” Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, said on Friday to CNN.
Read more »
Russia sets deadline for Ukraine troops in Mariupol to surrenderRussia's defence ministry has told the Ukrainian forces still fighting in the besieged southern port of Mariupol to lay down their arms starting 6 a.m. Moscow time (0300 GMT) on Sunday to save their lives.
Read more »