Update: Ukraine responded to the call not to lay down its arms on Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol.
Colonel Mikhail Mezensev, Director of the Russian National Defense Administration Center, in a statement issued by the Ministry of Defense called on the defenders of Mariupol to lay down their arms.
A terrible humanitarian disaster has occurred.
He said that those who laid down their arms guaranteed a safe departure from Mariupol. He added that the humanitarian corridors from Mariupol to the east and west will be opened to civilians on Monday at 10 am Moscow time (which means 8 am Hungary time).
An essential element of the message is that
Ukraine has until 5 a.m. Moscow time (3 p.m. Hungary time) to respond to humanitarian corridors and disarm.
The Reuters news agency, which is reporting on the Russian call, also noted that Mariupol suffered the heaviest bombing of Ukrainian cities since the Russian invasion on February 24. Many of its 400,000 residents are still stuck in the city, with little food, water and electricity.
In recent weeks, there have been regular attacks on humanitarian corridors to various Ukrainian cities, but both sides blamed each other.
Mizensev now also spoke, without providing evidence, that Ukrainian “bandits”, “neo-Nazis” and nationalists committed “mass terrorism” and embarked on a series of murders in the city. President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that the siege of Mariupol “a horror that will remain in the memory for centuries” in the world.
The head of the Russian army said in a statement tonight that Russia will not use heavy weapons in Mariupol. He also noted that the Russians had evacuated 59,304 people from the city, but that 130,000 civilians were being held hostage there by the Ukrainian side.
We wrote here on Sunday about the latest developments in the city:
Cover photo: A satellite image published by Maxar Technologies showing the aftermath of the Russian attacks on Mariupol on March 12, 2022. Source: MTI/EPA/MAXAR TECHNOLOGIES
