(Moscow) Russia on Tuesday called on the entire Ukrainian army to “lay down their arms” and the last defenders of the city of Mariupol to end their “senseless resistance”, a call that comes as Moscow seems launched in its major offensive on eastern Ukraine.
Posted at 6:52
Updated at 7:12 a.m.
“Do not tempt fate, take the only correct decision, that of ceasing military operations and laying down arms,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
“We address all the soldiers of the Ukrainian army and foreign mercenaries: an unenviable fate awaits you because of the cynicism of the authorities of Kyiv”, he hammered again.
The Russian army also promised “life saves” to Ukrainian fighters from Mariupol (southeast) still occupying the industrial site of Azovstal, if they surrendered on Tuesday.
It proposes a ceasefire at 12 p.m. Tuesday (5 a.m. EDT) so that between “2 p.m. (7 a.m. EDT) and 4 p.m. Moscow time (9 a.m. EDT) all Ukrainian armed units without exception and mercenaries foreigners leave (Azovstal) without arms or ammunition”.
“We call on the Kyiv authorities to show common sense and order the fighters to stop their senseless resistance,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Since the siege of the strategic port began in early March, Moscow has repeatedly called on Ukrainian forces to lay down their arms.
Last week, more than a thousand Ukrainian soldiers surrendered in Mariupol, but several hundred others, according to pro-Russian separatists, are still entrenched in the huge Azovstal factory where they are leading a fierce resistance.
On Tuesday, a Donetsk separatist military official, Eduard Basurin, said that “assault groups” supported by Russian artillery and aviation had “partly” launched an assault on Azovstal.
On Russian television, Mr. Basurin also assured that no civilians were in this industrial zone, contrary to what the Ukrainian fighters on the spot say.