The Russian army asked the Ukrainian forces in Mariupol to surrender

Once again, the Russian Ministry of Defense recommended the surrender to Ukrainian forces locked in an iron and steel plant in Mariupol Azov and promised security, stipulating that the fight would cease and the gun down at 1 pm Central European Time on Wednesday.

“The leadership of the Russian Federation guarantees the provision of life, complete security, and professional medical care to all those who have laid down their arms,” said Colonel-General Mikhail Mizincev, head of the Russian Inter-Ministerial Coordination Command for the Humanitarian Response and the National Defense Command Center, on Tuesday night.

He stated that members of Ukrainian armed units and foreign mercenaries must leave the territory of the plant “at no time” from 2 pm Moscow time (1 pm Central European time) without weapons and ammunition.

Russian news agencies, citing the “folk militia” in Donetsk, reported on Tuesday night that 120 civilians came out of “cellars around the factory entrance” in Mariupol during the day. Alexei Nikikinorov, chief of staff to the head of the Donetsk “People’s Republic,” told Pervi Kanal that no one left the Azov plant itself through the humanitarian corridors on Tuesday.

General Mizincev said three humanitarian corridors were opened from the plant on Tuesday for Ukrainian soldiers and nationalist gunmen who voluntarily laid down their guns. In order to secure the withdrawal, a complete ceasefire was ordered between the Russian and Donetsk forces withdrawn from Azovstal.

The general stated that in the name of the Russian army, he would guarantee the lives of everyone who lay down their arms, and he also promised to abide by the Geneva Conventions on the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Mizincev said the guarantees were communicated to the Ukrainian side through Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Irina Vereshchuk. At the end of all three evacuation routes, the returnees were greeted by a column of 30 buses and 10 ambulances.

The “people’s militia” in Luhansk reported on the Telegram Channel on Tuesday night that its forces had taken control of the city of Kreminna as part of an offensive operation in the Donetsk Basin. Igor Konasenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, has previously announced the blockade of the northern and eastern outskirts of Metolkine near Severjodonetsk and Lisitsansk.