Ukrainian forces besieged in Mariupol have rejected Russia’s demands to surrender and are still resisting an unrelenting assault on the southeastern port city, top Ukrainian officials said on Sunday.Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said the city, which has been surrounded by Russian troops since March 1, has not fallen.
Ukrainian troops trapped in the city are holding out against the Russian onslaught despite overwhelming odds. But they are confined to pockets of resistance, and their numbers are unclear.”There are still our military forces, our soldiers, so they will fight until the end and as for now they are still in Mariupol,” Shmyhal said on ABC News’ “This Week.”
An adviser to the mayor of Mariupol also rejected the Russian ultimatum earlier on Sunday. Petro Andriushchenko said on Telegram “as of today, our defenders continue to hold the defense.”
The comments come after Russia’s Ministry of Defense called on the Ukrainian soldiers still in Mariupol to surrender by 1 p.m. local time Sunday, warning anyone still resisting after the deadline “will be eliminated.” The ministry later confirmed the ultimatum had been ignored.
In a statement, the Russian ministry said the surrounded Ukrainian soldiers “were offered to voluntarily lay down arms and surrender in order to save their lives.””However, the Kiev nationalist regime, according to the radio intercept, forbade negotiations about surrendering,” the Ministry claimed.
It also asserted, according to Ukrainian soldiers who had previously surrendered, “there are up to 400 foreign mercenaries who joined the Ukrainian forces” trapped at the plant, including Europeans and Canadians. “In case of further resistance, all of them will be eliminated,” it said.Shmyhal, Ukraine’s prime minister, said despite the relentless Russian attacks, “not one big city in Ukraine has fallen.””Only Kherson is under control of Russian military forces, but all of the rest of the cities are under Ukrainian control,” he said, adding some of the cities in the surrounding areas were “besieged but still under Ukrainian control.
“He said more than 900 Ukrainian cities, towns and villages had been freed from Russian occupation since Moscow took control after the invasion began in late February.”We still are fighting, and we have battle in Donbas region right now, but we do not have intention to surrender,” Shmyhal said.
