Mar 21, 2022: Russia has urged Ukraine’s forces in the port city of Mariupol to lay down their arms in exchange for a safe passage through the city, but authorities in Kyiv immediately rejected the offer.

Russia’s Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev said Sunday that Moscow would allow two corridors from the coastal city, which would lead east to Russia and west to other parts of Ukraine.

Mizintsev gave Mariupol until 5am on Monday (02:00 GMT) to respond to the offer, saying a “terrible humanitarian catastrophe has developed” in the besieged city, where fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces have trapped residents without food, water or power.

“All who lay down their arms are guaranteed safe passage out of Mariupol,” he said, without saying what action Russia would take if the offer was rejected.

In an ultimatum addressing Ukrainian authorities, the Russian Ministry of Defence, addressing Mariupol authorities on messaging app Telegram, said the officials “now have the right to make a historic choice” and warned they could face a military tribunal if they sided with what it described as “criminals”.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Irina Vereshchuk, however rejected the demand. ‘Instead of wasting time on eight pages of letters, just open the corridor.’”

Vereshchuk added that the Russians “continue to behave like terrorists”.

“They say they agree on the humanitarian corridor and in the morning, shell the place for evacuation,” she said.

Piotr Andryushchenko, the mayor of Mariupol, also rejected the Russian demand for surrender, saying in a Facebook post he did not need to wait until morning to respond and cursing at the Russians, according to the news agency Interfax Ukraine.

Originally a city of 400,000 people, Mariupol has suffered some of the heaviest bombardments since Russia invaded Ukraine with city officials say at least 2,300 people have died, some buried in mass graves.

On Wednesday, a bomb hit a theatre where more than 1,000 people were believed to be sheltering. Officials say fighting continued in the city on Sunday, and tearful evacuees described how “battles took place over every street”.

The fall of Mariupol would allow Russian forces in southern and eastern Ukraine to link up. And in recent days, Russian troops have entered Mariupol.

However, experts in the West believe, even if Russia manages to succeed in its goal, it has failed in its initial campaign to swiftly take the capital of Kyiv and other major cities, stalling its invasion and making a bloody stalemate likely.

Earlier, United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also said Ukrainian resistance means Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “forces on the ground are essentially stalled”.

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