Russia calls on Ukrainian forces to lay down their arms immediately: "Do not oppose fate and take the right decision"
Russia on Tuesday called on Ukrainian forces to "disarm immediately" and announced a new deadline for the defenders of the port city of Mariupol to abandon resistance, in an appeal issued as Moscow appeared to launch its major offensive in the east of the country.
"Do not resist fate and take the only correct decision to stop military operations and lay down arms," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
"We address all Ukrainian soldiers and foreign mercenaries: an unenviable fate awaits you because of the contempt of the Kyiv authorities," she added.
The Russian Defense Ministry called on Kyiv to adopt "logic and issue similar orders to the fighters to stop their futile resistance."
"Because we are aware that they will not receive directions and orders of this kind from the Kyiv authorities, we call on (the fighters) to take this decision voluntarily and lay down their arms," she added.
The Russian army announced that it had opened a corridor from 11:00 GMT so that the Ukrainian soldiers in Azovstal who had surrendered could leave.
The Russian Defense Ministry said it would implement a local ceasefire to ensure their safe exit.
The Russian military also said it had organized "three humanitarian convoys" on three streets north, west and east of the Azovstal plant.
These convoys, which consist of about forty vehicles, including ambulances, are supposed to allow the "transport of people," according to Moscow.
Since the start of the Mariupol siege in early March, Moscow has repeatedly called on Ukrainian forces to lay down their weapons.
More than 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers surrendered last week, but hundreds of others, according to pro-Russian separatists, are still based in the huge Azovstal plant, where they are fighting back fiercely.
A military official from Donetsk separatists, Eduard Basurin, said that "assault groups" backed by artillery and Russian aviation launched an attack on Azovstal.
Basurin confirmed on Russian television that there are no civilians in this industrial zone, contrary to what the Ukrainian fighters are saying at the site.
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