The Russian Defence Ministry has given Ukrainian fighters, who are in an industrial complex in the besieged port city of Mariupol, a fresh ultimatum.
The Ministry said Russia’s armed forces, based purely on humanitarian principles, again proposed that the fighters of nationalist battalions and foreign mercenaries cease their military operations and lay down arms.
It however, said in a statement that not a single Ukrainian soldier accepted the same offer.
Russian-backed fighters are reportedly trying to storm the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol where Ukrainian troops and civilians were said to be holding out.
Meanwhile, the deputy mayor of Mariupol, Sergei Orlov, had said there were many civilians stuck in the besieged Azovstal factory.
