Russia gave Ukraine an ultimatum yesterday (20), to hand over the city of Mariupol, with the laying down of arms by the Ukrainian military. Ukraine had until 5 am today (21) to announce its decision. The country’s deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, announced, however, that the port city will not surrender and called for the opening of humanitarian corridors.
“There can be no surrender, no laying down of arms. We have already informed the Russian side about this,” Vershchuck said, according to Reuters.
Before the war, Mariupol was home to around 400,000 people. Now, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian civilians are besieged in the port city, which is approximately 60 kilometers from the Russian border and is situated on the Sea of Azov, therefore strategically located for Russia, which wants to have land entry into the country and ties to Crimea – which was annexed by the Russians in 2014.
The Russian proposal was that, after the surrender of Mariupol, humanitarian corridors would be opened to evacuate the civilians who are in the city, which suffers from shortages. Mariupol is the city hardest hit by the Russian bombings that began on February 24th. The city is without water, electricity and gas. Residents also suffer from shortages of food and medicine.
Mikhail Mizintsev, director of the Russian National Defense Management Center, in a note distributed by the Russian Defense Ministry, had asked the Ukrainians to surrender. “A terrible humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding. All who lay down their weapons are guaranteed safe passage out of Mariupol.” He accuses the Ukrainians themselves of murdering their citizens.
Russian President Vladimir Putin calls the war a “special military operation” and says he is defending Ukraine from a “Nazi” government. The West accuses Russia of using these accusations as a pretext to invade and take over the country.
The United Nations (UN) said at least 902 civilians had been killed as of midnight on Saturday, although the actual number is likely much higher. The UN refugee agency UNHCR said 10 million Ukrainians had been displaced, including around 3.4 million who fled to neighboring countries such as Poland.
