Russia demands surrender of Mariupol defenders
Pope decries ‘cruel and senseless’ conflict
KYIV: Russia gave holdout Ukrainian soldiers an ultimatum to lay down arms yesterday in the pulverised southeastern port of Mariupol, which Moscow said its forces almost completely controlled in what would be its biggest capture of the nearly two-month war.
Several hours after the 0300 GMT (11am in Malaysia) deadline, there was no sign of compliance by Ukrainian fighters holed up in the smouldering Azovstal steelworks overlooking the Sea of Azov.
Having failed to overcome Ukrainian resistance in the north, the Russian military has refocused its ground offensive on the eastern Donbas region while maintaining long-distance strikes elsewhere, including the capital Kyiv.
Lamenting an “Easter of War” during an address in St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis pleaded for an end to the bloodshed and implicitly criticised Russia.
“May there be peace for war-torn Ukraine, so sorely tried by the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged,” he said, thanking those who had taken in some four million refugees from Ukraine.
Russia said its troops had cleared the urban area of Mariupol, the main port in Donbas.
The city has seen some of the fiercest fighting and worst civilian suffering since the Feb 24 invasion, with bodies littering destroyed streets and thousands hunkered down in atrocious conditions underground.
The steelworks, one of Europe’s biggest metallurgical plants with a maze of rail tracks and blast furnaces, has become a last stand for the outnumbered defenders.
“The Russian Armed Forces offer the militants of nationalist battalions and foreign mercenaries from 6am Moscow time on April 17 to stop any hostilities and lay down their arms,” Russia’s Defence Ministry said.
“All who lay down their arms are guaranteed that their lives will be spared,” it said, offering the defending “remnants” a four-hour window to leave the plant without arms or ammunition.
There was no immediate response from Kyiv to the ultimatum, though Ukraine’s military said Russian air strikes on Mariupol continued along with assault operations near the port.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia on Saturday of “deliberately trying to destroy everyone” in Mariupol and said his government was in touch with the defenders.
But he did not address Moscow’s claim that Ukrainian forces were no longer in urban districts.
He said killing his troops would put paid to peace efforts. – Reuters